Planet Broker Book 2, page 3
“I would like to accompany you as well,” Sef’sla suddenly chimed in. The princess had walked over to stand at her father’s side. U’eh looked ready to refuse, but Sef’sla continued before he could.
“Kot’ep will come around faster if I am there, you know he will,” she said to U’eh, referencing the chieftain of the Marsh Tribe. I tucked away the curious bit of information for a later time. The Almort princess’s face was determined and full of that inner fire that had burned so brightly in her eyes before. “The others will listen quicker if there are more of us to defend CT. Cy’lass would be better, but I know he must stay here to care for the people in Ka’le. Please, let me come. I want to help.”
U’eh snorted and flared his gills, but Sef’sla had a point, too, one that he couldn’t find fault with. I could tell he wasn’t happy with it, but finally, he conceded.
“If the starman is agreeable,” he hissed, “you may come, daughter.”
Sef’sla turned then to me, and I shrugged.
“I’d love for you to come,” I said, and Sef’sla broke out into a grin. I found myself smiling in return.
“When do we leave?” U’eh asked abruptly, tearing my attention away from his daughter.
“As soon as possible,” I replied, but then backtracked and revised as my thoughts morphed and mutated as we went along. “Scratch that. If you and Sef’sla are joining us, U’eh, I think I should amend my plan.”
I turned to Akela. “How long do you think it will take you to do some major upgrades?”
The mechanic cocked her head at me. “For each tribe?” she asked as she tapped her foot in thought. “I could do some real damage in a week, as you well know.”
I did some quick math and then looked back to U’eh. “Even though we have a buffer window of time, I still would like to begin preparations as soon as possible. If it is agreeable to you, and to the other chieftains as well, once each tribe has agreed to join our coalition, I’d like to start work right then. I want things to be well underway with one tribe before we go on to the next. Are you okay with being out of Ka’le for a few weeks at least?”
U’eh considered the question for a moment but ultimately dipped his chin in consent. “If it means saving my people, I will do whatever it takes,” he intoned solemnly.
“Thank you,” I said earnestly. “Your presence will be a tremendous help in uniting the other tribes.” I looked around to my crew and the others in the room. “I say we spend the next three days getting our affairs in order here. We need large quantities of X’ebril that we can turn into weapons or vehicles for the battle. I’m going to download Omni into your systems at the refinery and basically any computer that can hold him. He can help with construction, design, anything really, but we need as much of that metallic ore as you can spare. Once production is well underway, we can head off to prepare the other tribes.”
U’eh inclined his head. “We will work the forges night and day,” he said.
I snapped my fingers. “Oh! I also forgot to mention,” I grinned as I looked around the room, “in regard to the city of Ka’le itself, and the protection of its citizens, I’ve spoken with Omni, and we believe he can erect a shield around the city, much like the one we use on the Lacuna Noctis.”
U’eh blinked in surprise, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Akela gape at me, also floored by this news. I turned to her with an apologetic smile.
“Sorry,” I told the mechanic, “you and Neka we’re getting dressed this morning when this thought occurred to me. I hashed out a sketch of a plan with O, and he thinks with a little of your input, we could have a functional design in a few days. The worker drones can do most of the construction, and once he gets the design finished, we’ll send the drones to the Sin’mot, Ac’sok, and Oe’huk tribes to build shields there, too.”
I looked back to U’eh and added, “Obviously, the chieftains have to agree first, but once they do, we’ll have everything ready. I believe Warrick is going to be focused on me during this campaign, but I don’t want to leave any of the other tribes or vulnerable on the off chance.”
“You’re really thinking of everything here,” Akela chuckled with a shake of her head.
“You should see me play chess,” I grinned in response. “Anyway, after everything is set up here under and Omni’s and Cy’lass’s supervision, we’ll head straight to the ship to meet with our first tribe.”
“Would it not be faster to bring the ship to the city?” Cy’lass proposed, but I shook my head.
“I don’t want to draw attention here. I’m sure Warrick is watching. We’ll take the vehicles back to the beach. Omni and Akela can rig up a quick cloaking mechanism for them, right?” I asked as I turned to the mechanic.
The silver-haired woman blinked in surprise at being addressed again but nodded her head. “Shouldn’t be too hard,” she replied as her eyes darted from me to the Almort and back again. “The Lacuna has a state-of-the-art cloaking shield. I fiddled with it a bit on the journey here. I bet I could duplicate it on a smaller scale for the trucks.”
“Great, thank you,” I said sincerely, and Akela tapped two fingers to her temple in a small salute.
“We will have the vehicles prepared by the time you leave,” Cy’lass promised.
I nodded to the prince in gratitude before I turned back to U’eh.
“I’d also like some more specifics on each tribe so I can better plan what improvements we can make during our preparations. But, before we get to that, is there anything I can do to prepare with meeting these chieftains?” I asked him. “Anything you think I could say to convince them?”
U’eh clicked his tongue and looked back to the map on the table. He studied the glass screen for a long moment.
“Be honest, as you have been,” he advised me at length. “The others will recognize it in you. However, some of these chieftains have never met a starman. They will not understand this threat that looms above us. Perhaps if you have something you can show them, something to demonstrate how these… Corporationssss, as you call them, have hurt other worlds and their peoples in the past.”
I felt a very wicked grin split my face.
If the Almort wanted me to air out all of Terra-Nebula’s dirty laundry, who was I to argue?
“I think I can do that,” I said smugly, and a deep, visceral satisfaction began to take root in my chest.
Terra-Nebula wouldn’t know what hit them.
Chapter 3
The next day I met with Chief U’eh and his son Cy’lass to begin planning the city’s fortifications. Neka was getting a more in-depth tour of Ka’le from U’eh’s daughter, Sef’sla, and Akela and Omni planned to go to the refinery to work on the technical schematics, like the power source, materials, etcetera. However, my job, along with the Almort chieftain and prince, was to go out and plot exactly where the shield was physically going to be built. So, after I ate a quick breakfast and enjoyed a session of lovemaking with my assistant and mechanic, I walked over to the tower in the center of Ka’le.
U’eh and Cy’lass were already waiting for me in the plaza around the tower. The Almort prince grinned when he saw me, but his father was as stern-faced as ever.
“I trust you slept well, CccT” Cy’lass hissed as he reached out to clap me on the shoulder.
I flashed him a smile in return. “Well enough,” I replied as I clapped my hands together. “Ready to get to work now, though.”
“Where would you like to begin?” the Almort prince asked me.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t really matter where we start,” I responded, “just that we circle the whole perimeter of the city so that we can see if there will be any issues or impediments once Omni and his drones start construction of the shield.”
“We’ll start north of the city then,” Chief U’eh clicked definitively, and he turned without another word to march toward the truck that was parked a few meters away.
I looked to Cy’lass with raised eyebrows, and the Almort prince winced.
“Forgive my father,” he hissed with an apologetic expression. “Your news of the starmen’s plans has made him anxious.”
“Once Akela and Omni finalize designs and we get the ball rolling, it will take care of some of those anxieties,” I assured him. “The shield will protect the city from both firepower and an invasion force.”
The Almort prince frowned. “And in the meantime?” he questioned. “What will keep the starmen from attacking before the shield is completed.”
“Well, like I said yesterday,” I began, “it will take some time for Terra-Nebula to get here. First, they’ll have to get all the paperwork together to cover their asses. Then, they’ll have to assemble a tactical force and physically get them here. And since they’re traveling via hyperspace, it’ll take them weeks to reach the planet.”
Cy’lass had been following along fine until I said ‘hyperspace’ and then I saw confusion cloud his eyes. I smiled and explained, “They have to take the long way around. Until they get here, it’s only Warrick up there, and he’s just one man.”
The Almort prince looked slightly reassured, but there was still a furrow in his brow. “Do you think this Warrick will wait for the other starmen?” he hissed. His dark blue eyes flicked skyward as if at any moment, ships were going to start dropping from the stars.
I opened my mouth to reply but then I hesitated. If it were any other broker in orbit right now, I would say yes, without a doubt, they’ll wait from T-N’s reinforcements. However, this was Arden Warrick. The blond bastard always had a bone to pick with me because I was better, and then I went and humiliated him in front of the Almort. If I knew Warrick, and I really did, the broadcast yesterday was only the first part of his retaliation. There was more coming, and I had to be ready for it.
I took a deep breath and flashed Cy’lass an encouraging smile. “I can’t guarantee that Warrick will wait,” I said, “but I can promise that I can handle whatever he throws my way.”
That seemed to be what the Almort prince needed to hear because his brow smoothed out, and he smiled at me in return. “I believe you,” he clicked with a respectful nod of his head. “And thank you.”
“For what?” I asked with a frown.
“For standing with my people,” the Almort male replied as he looked me in the eye. “For helping us to fight these would-be-invaders.”
“Cy’lass believe me when I tell you,” I laughed, “there is nothing I’d rather be doing than fighting Terra-Nebula.”
We joined Chief U’eh at the truck then, but not before I stepped to the side and tapped at my earwig.
“Hey, O?” I asked.
“Yes, Colby?” my AI immediately responded.
“I’m going to need one of your aerial drones,” I replied as I lifted my eyes to the sky.
“Is everything alright?” Omni asked.
“Yeah, I’m only being careful,” I said. “Have the drone lock onto the GPS signal in my suit but send it to do some flyovers over and around the city.”
“On it,” the AI replied. “Akela and I have also made it to the refinery. We are beginning work on the shield designs now.”
“Keep up the great work then,” I chuckled. “I’ll check in with you once we’ve finished the perimeter check.”
“Stay safe, Colby,” Omni said in lieu of signing off.
“I always do,” I replied with a smile.
Once Chief U’eh, Cy’lass, and I were loaded up in the truck, we headed north. While the Almort prince drove, he pointed things out to me about the city. Since I was in the back, and U’eh stood stoically looking out the passenger side window, I had to lean over Cy’lass’s shoulder a few times to see what he was pointing to.
“That road,” he said as he gestured to the left, “leads to the artisan shops. They are typically closed during the mornings since many craftsmen work late into the night to finish their projects.”
I thought of Akela with a smile, and though some would argue engineering wasn’t an art, they clearly had never seen the silver-haired woman work with nothing but a wrench and a little bit of grease.
“Artists tend to be like that,” I replied to the Almort prince with a chuckle. “Actually, I’m curious, what do your people consider art?”
“Many things,” Cy’lass shrugged. “Jewelry, metalwork, clothing. My sister would know better. I can ask her when we return.”
My neck grew warm at the mention of Sef’sla and was thankful the two Almort males were facing forward. “It’s okay,” I evaded quickly. “We’ll be pretty busy soon enough, anyway.”
The Almort prince glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon driving around the city. We regularly stopped to take measurements, discuss how the shield would affect the various waterways that ran in and out of the city, and the best way to inform the Almort’s about the inherent dangers that came with an energy force field. It was important work, but tedious and tiring, and by the afternoon my stomach was growling for food.
“I think we’ve got everything,” I finally said as we came to one of our last stops.
Chief U’eh frowned and turned to me. “We still have a kilometer left of the perimeter,” he argued.
I gave him my best cajoling smile. “We got ninety-five percent of the way,” I said. “Omni can work out the last few dimensions for the information we already have.”
The Almort chieftain looked like he wanted to argue but, before he could, static crackled in my ear.
“Colby,” Omni intoned.
I rolled my eyes because I thought the AI was going to complain about me skipping the last kilometer, but then he added, “There’s something you need to see.”
My brow furrowed as the data pad in my pocket buzzed. I withdrew it to see a bunch of numbers and projections fly past the screen.
“What am I looking at buddy?” I asked. The information was moving too fast for me to process.
“There is currently an incoming projectile headed toward your location,” the AI informed me.
I felt my heart drop. “Missiles?” I asked. I spun around, looked up into the sky, and sure enough, out from over the fields came a burning orange ball of fire streaked right toward us. But why would Warrick bombard a city, and a planet, he was trying to buy?
There was another burst of static, and then Omni replied, “Negative. My scans show the object is made up of a combination of dense rock and metallic ores.”
I blinked as I thought of what met those specifications. “Wait,” I said, “are you saying a damn meteor is heading toward the city?”
“Affirmative,” the AI responded.
“You got to be freaking kidding me,” I muttered as I ran a hand through my hair. What are the goddamn odds?
Chief U’eh and Cy’lass had turned to me with expressions of confusion. They hadn’t heard my conversation with Omni yet, and they were facing away from the rapidly approaching meteor. I flashed them a thin smile, held up a finger for them to wait one moment, and lowered my voice.
“How much time do we have before impact?” I asked as I snapped into action.
“Under three minutes,” Omni said. “The projectile entered the atmosphere from low orbit and has quickly gained velocity.”
“Of course it has,” I sighed. “And the estimated scale of damage?”
“It will take out the nearest three to five city blocks.”
“Of course it will,” I chuckled dryly. “Alright, O, where is that drone I asked you to send for flyovers?”
“Currently half a kilometer due east of your current position,” the AI informed me.
“Perfect,” I responded. “I want you to send it to intercept the meteor before it gets too close to the city. Shoot it down.”
“This specific drone is not equipped with a weapons system,” Omni replied.
“Of course it isn’t,” I said as I rubbed at my eyes. “Well, we’ll simply have to sacrifice the drone then. Akela can throw together a replacement later. Set the drone on a collision course, O.”
“Setting the course now,” the Ai said.
A moment later, a high-pitched whining filled the air. Chief U’eh and his son had begun to look around with fear, and they finally caught sight of the great ball of flame that rocketed toward us.
“CT!” the Almort prince cried as he spun around to face me. However, just as he did, the high-pitched whining reached a crescendo, and a moment later, Omni’s aerial drone shot over our heads and streaked away from the city, across the plains, and up into the sky.
“What is happening?” Chief U’eh demanded as he looked from me to the approaching projectile with fear.
“Just a little meteor which is basically a piece of space rock,” I explained. “It’s nothing to worry about. Most meteors break up in the atmosphere, but this one seems to be a bit larger. It’s alright though. My AI and I are taking care of it.”
The Almort chieftain looked like he wanted to say something more but, before he could, the drone and the meteor collided about a kilometer outside of the city. U’eh and Cy’lass whirled around to watch the grand explosion as fire bloomed white hot in the air before molten orange pieces of rock and metal fell to the plains below. A moment later, the sound of the crash reached us, like thunder rolling over the fields. The ground vibrated beneath my feet for a moment, and then all was still and quiet.
“Nice job, O,” I complimented.
“Thank you, Colby,” the AI responded.
There was another burst of static in my ear as someone else jumped on the comm system.
“What the hell was that?” Akela yelled.
I felt a grin slide onto my face and I slipped my hands into my pockets. “Meteor,” I replied casually.
“… did you just say a freaking meteor?” the mechanic echoed after a shocked moment of silence.
“I did indeed,” I chuckled, “but don’t worry, I took care of it.”
There was a sound like a mechanic clearing of a throat, and I rolled my eyes and added, “Alright, Omni and I took care of it.”
