Balance of Terror (10 page)

“This world was only discovered by the Republic a coupla centuries ago. Not too long by an empire’s reckoning. The Republic came down in their big ships and took over. Seemed simple enough at th’ time. They had technology, weapons. All the slant-headed natives had was their planet.”

Gauder chewed reflectively on the end of a stick and spat into the fire.

“Sounds simple, don’t it? But the natives weren’t the simple-minded peasants us humans thought they were. They had millennia of livin’ on this rock. Of huntin’ under a sun that’ll sear yer to yer bones. Of survivin’ in a climate where yer very breath is prized for its moisture.”

The words were grand but they didn’t move her.

“The Republic’s still here from what I can see,” she commented, her voice dry. Recollections of Security Force vehicles on slow patrols and officers hanging by a public terminal bumped around in her head.

“Hah! Ye’d think so, wouldn’t yer?” He lifted a thick finger. “But ye’d be wrong.” His brows beetled. “What did yer say ye were? Yer occupation, before yer took to runnin’.”

“I didn’t think I did,” Moon replied, “but I was a scientist.”

Was
? Was that true? What did that make her now?

“Peerin’ through microscopes and the like? Tryin’ to decipher the secrets of the universe?”

She shrugged, reluctant to share much of her past. “Something like that.”

He held his hand up, the back of it facing Moon. “Can’t see what’s right in front of yer eyes.” His hand dropped away and he grinned. “Not even when ye’ve lived in it.”

If possible, Moon’s voice became even chillier. “I don’t think I follow you.”

“The cities, lady scientist. What did yer notice about them?”

Moon cocked an eyebrow. “You mean, besides the fact that they’re hot and crowded?”

“They pack ‘em in like fish in a net, don’t they? Then wonder why people turn on each other. I’m still not sure whether it’s stupidity or cunning.”

“Cunning? You mean it’s a deliberate policy on the part of the Republic?”

Gauder
tsk
ed. “How many humans did you see in Toltuk, lady scientist? Or in Colken?”

Moon blinked. “I’m not sure I could say.”

“A lot o’ humans?” Gauder prompted.

She thought about it. “Yes. Certainly more than half the population.”

He nodded. “That’s where they run, to the cities. Humans that try to come out here – to the
real
Marentim – die, simple as that. Even the almighty Republic doesn’t dare send more than an occasional patrol to traverse the Open.”

“Is that what you call it, this desert? The ‘Open’?”

“That’s what the natives call it and if it’s good enough fer them, it’s good enough fer me.”

“Yet
you
come out here maybe twice a year, you say,” Moon remarked. “Is that why you travel in a tank? So the natives can’t attack you?”

Gauder threw his head back and laughed. “The tank’s not to protect me from the natives, lady scientist. Oh no. The tanks are there to protect me from me competitors. Believe me,” he lowered his voice, “if the people of this planet wanted me dead, I’d be nothing more than a bleached skeleton by now.”

Was Gauder trying to converse with her? Or threaten her with what might happen if she and Srin decided to make a break for it?

She looked up from the campfire embers to see him regarding her intently, his eyes glittering as they reflected the flickering coals.

“There’s a tree out here,” he said, his gaze never leaving her face. “The natives chew on it. It’s a bit sweet. Relaxes ye a bit.” He broke a short length off his stick, half-rose and offered it to her. “Looks like ye might be needing some o’ it.”

Moon mirrored his action. As she reached for the wood, his fingers brushed hers. She sat back down and looked at the thick curl of bark in her hand.

“For relaxation?” she asked.

“Aye. Not that your friend seems to need any of it.”

Startled, she looked at him. He had the same inscrutable expression on his face.

“But I reckon ye might.”

Moon brushed imaginary dust from her trousers and got to her feet. There was something in the air that upset her equilibrium. Was the brief physical contact between them inadvertent? Was there rebuke for Srin in Gauder’s voice? Who exactly was Gauder anyway, someone who loved Marentim, or someone looking for any way to exploit it?

“Thanks for the conversation,” she said, “but I really should get ready for sleep.”

Was she running away? Absolutely.

“No problem, lady scientist. Sleep tight now, ye hear? And pleasant dreams.”

Chapter Eight

“If he’s a trader, he doesn’t appear to be trading very much,” Moon commented.

As per Gauder’s standing instructions, she and Srin were a little behind and to the left of the lead vehicle.

“I’m sure he has a select clientele,” Srin answered. He was reclining in the seat, taking in the expansive view with narrowed eyes.

“I’m glad you mixed in those uppers,” he added, after a short pause. “I still feel like I’m pulling 5
g
but at least I think I can help you out a bit more.”

“Just remember that I did it under duress. It was a sheer fluke I decided to buy some before we left Colken.” Her eyes on the horizon, Moon sighed. “The benzodiazepine is already stressing your system. I don’t even want to think of what my new mix is doing to you.”

Srin breathed in deeply and tried to sound upbeat. “I doubt a few more weeks of drug abuse, on top of what I’ve already suffered, are going to do me much harm. Besides, this way I remain lucid and get to build up a whole new set of memories. That’s like diamond dust to me.”

She glanced at him in exasperation. They had left Gauder’s compound almost four weeks ago, and Srin’s hair had become longer and shaggier. A short beard and moustache also obscured his face. Too tired to confine her hair in its customary sleek bun each day, Moon had likewise relaxed her own rules. Her roughly brushed wavy hair fell to below her shoulders, with dark tendrils curling around her face. She doubted either ofthem looked very much like the more polished fugitives who’d escaped from Slater’s End a lifetime ago.

“Do you have any idea what he’s trading?” Moon asked.

“Oh yes.”

Moon straightened in her seat. “Care to share the secret with me?”

“Weapons, my darling. Our host is a dealer in contraband Republic weaponry.”

“Ugh. You went and looked in the boxes, didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “Of course I did. You would’ve done the same if you didn’t have to spend so many hours driving this wreck.”

She didn’t want to ask but couldn’t help herself. “What kind of weaponry?”

“Mostly small stuff, from what I’ve seen. Hand weapons, grenades, a few heavier systems but not many.”

“I wonder who he’s selling it to.”

Srin sat up and leant forward. “I think,” he said, peering through the windscreen, “we’re about to find out.”

Moon squinted through the dusty panel. True enough, they appeared to be approaching an encampment of some kind. Gauder’s vehicle swerved and slowed down and Moon did the same, matching his speed.

Moon had to admit that she would have missed the array of huts completely if it hadn’t been for Srin’s comment and Gauder’s change of direction. The fine dessicated soil of Marentim made the sky look clear but, in actuality, veiled everything in a thin layer of washed-out colour. An entire army could have been stationed a kilometre away and she wouldn’t have noticed.

At almost walking speed, they passed through two rings of guards – natives swathed in light-coloured robes watching them without expression – before reaching the edge of the circle of buildings she had barely seen from a distance. The structures were single-storied and looked semi-permanent, made of something that resembled timber. That they had been here for a little while was evidenced by the waves of sand that curved up against the bottom of the walls.

The first tank revved, then shuddered to a halt. Moon, not sure what to do, kept the engine of her vehicle running. Gauder strolled over, climbed up to the cabin and knocked on one of the side windows. With a flick of her finger, Moon lowered the screen.

“I’ll go and do some talkin’,” Gauder told them. “Switch yer engine off but keep alert. I’ll signal if there’s any problem.”

He jumped back down to the ground and sauntered towards one of the larger buildings. Moon kept the window down and killed the engine. Suddenly, they were engulfed by silence.

“It doesn’t sound like they’re very friendly,” Moon muttered in a low voice.

“Visit new planets, meet new people, and sell them weapons to kill you with,” Srin quipped.

“Very funny.”

They were silent for several minutes.

“Did I ever tell you about Tonia III?” Srin finally asked.

Moon turned to him. “Tonia III? That’s your homeworld, isn’t it?”

She knew he was trying to distract her, but was happy to go along with the deception.

“Yeah. When I look out and see all this open space, all I can think is what a complete contrast it is to where I grew up.”

Moon’s lips twitched. “You mean Tonia III
isn’t
a dusty hell-hole where you’d die of exposure in under a day?”

He chuckled. “Strange, isn’t it? And yet…I can understand why Gauder keeps coming out here. My world had lush forests, snow-capped mountains, clear lakes where I used to go sailing. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places in the galaxy but, despite that, it’s nowhere as compelling as this.”

Moon sighed and looked out the windscreen, to the harsh horizon and the brilliant sky above it. “If you mean there’s an eternal element to this vista,” she remarked, “I think you’re right.” She paused. “It makes you feel a bit insignificant, doesn’t it?”

“Not just us. From what you told me, it sounds like the Republic has only a tenuous hold on this planet as well.”

“That’s what Gauder intimated during our ‘cosy’ fireside chat.” Moon lifted an eyebrow in silent editorial. “The Security Force appears to be restricted to the cities. From what he said, they’ve lost too many people out here. In the Open, as he calls it.”

“Did he say
how
the Security Force lost people?”

“No.” Moon shook her head. “Again, I got the idea it was from sabotage, sneak attacks, that kind of thing. He even said that if the locals didn’t tolerate him, he would have been dead by now.”

“In a twisted way, that makes me feel better. It’s comforting, knowing that the people who are supposed to find us refuse to travel beyond the urban limits.”

Moon shifted. “He’s coming back.”

They watched through the tank’s panels as Gauder strolled towards them. To Moon’s relief, he didn’t look alarmed. Instead, he walked over to her side of the tank and climbed up the short ladder again.

“We’ll start unpacking from the hold of m’ vehicle first. Then we’ll stay here for the night. We’ve been invited to a dinner.”

“Can we trust them?” Moon asked shortly.

Gauder paused. “As much as ye can trust any pissed-off native who’s had his planet taken away from him. But we’re here to redress the balance, so we’re the good guys, eh?”

He winked.

Moon wondered at Gauder’s sense of humour as she and Srin moved boxes and an oversized trunk to a designated position near the centre of the encampment. The containers had been labelled in
ingel
and she shook her head as she helped stack them into neat piles.

“Four boxes of vegetables, ten of freeze-dried meat and seven barrels of soup,” she said, ticking each item off the manifest.

“Don’t forget the two boxes of fruit,” Gauder added with a laugh.

Was anybody taken in by the masquerade, she mused, pursing her lips. Maybe Marentim’s trade personnel only satisfied themselves with what was listed on the official manifests. Maybe the planet was worthless enough for the Republic not to bother with such irksome things as audits and spot checks.

“Fruit?” she queried Srin as she passed him on the way back to the hold.

“Probably grenades,” he answered, falling into step beside her. “They’re about the size of a Newvin pear.”

Moon suppressed a shiver. “I can’t decide whether this is childish or frightening.”

“Or both.”

They overheard the end of a conversation as the last box of “fruit” was placed next to the rest of the order.

“—two new partners?”

“Nah, they’re more like tourists,” Gauder answered. He flicked a glance at them. “Said they were here for a clean start, so I told ‘em I’d see what I could do.”

The Marentim local stretched his lips wide in a semblance of a smile. “They’re good workers. For humans.”

Gauder shook his head. “Too soft for this planet. I’ll probably drop ‘em off in Colken North when I get back. They can find work there.”

“You’re a kind man, Gauder.”

“I know,” he replied. “It’ll be the death o’ me.” He raised his voice. “It’ll be a couple of hours till dinner. Why don’t yer both relax for a bit?”

“We’ll take a walk around,” Moon offered.

Gauder lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t go wanderin’ too far, will ye?”