Jack's Moonlighting Pt. 02

Jack did his best not to snort in surprised amusement when he heard the commander's name.

Hillassh removed her sash and handed it to Jack. "When you speak to Commander Nuugaat, please act as our agent to inform him he is to surrender."

"Will they have arrived at Danat already?" he asked.

"It is highly likely they have already reached the planet," Trresst nodded.

"Let's hope they haven't killed anyone," Jack insisted, gesturing for the Tik hovering above to join him.

Jack nodded to Dennesh, and the Ishilon opened their Gates as one, everyone slipping back to the ship.

Jack found himself facing two angry Altarians.

"You beat up the leader of the rebellion?" Gee immediately snapped.

"You fought one on one with a warrior of unknown strength?" Bal added.

Jack looked over at Bayly and smiled. "Thanks for the tip about Krreegah noses. Once it broke, he was a mess." Gee and Bal continued to scowl at him, but he just smiled.

"Preparing to jump to Danat!" Lorrem called out from the bridge.

Jack rushed into the room just behind Bayly, who'd never seen her planet from above.

"Tito went through a small Gate and returned to send us the following information regarding the ship positions." Lorrem displayed this on the main view screen, and Jack saw that all thirty-two ships were still stationed above the planet.

Lorrem continued. "Tito went back through the Gate with the eighty Tik to coordinate with the ones on the ground. Forty will remain in orbit as witnesses. We will open the final Gate to position ourselves between the armada and the planet."

"Sounds good. On your command," Jack said.

He looked at Bayly. "Ready to see your home from space?"

She smiled at him nervously then her eyes were on the view screen.

Lorrem took no chances as he moved the ship through the Gate at their top speed. This would have appeared to the enemy as a large oblong hole appearing over a glowing world.

Bayly's eyes twinkled with joy to see her home again.

Jack hoped they weren't too late.

-=-

Tito rushed to join Juju in orbit once it had delivered the fleet's location to the Ishilon commander.

"Juju! We've brought help!" it tight beamed to the Tik in orbit.

"Tito! Thank goodness!" Juju caught sight of the group following the young Tik. "Oh! So many Tik! I'm not sure if they will be of much help in this situation. Why are they all moving away?"

As Tito slowed to a halt next to its senior, it couldn't keep the excitement from its voice. "We should join them to make room for the actual assistance we brought." It moved farther from the planet, and Juju followed.

They were now well off to the side of the planet with a view of the invading fleet to their right and the world to their left.

Suddenly, a vast and growing hole of absolute darkness appeared on the world's surface, growing before their optics.

"Tito! What's happening?" Juju yelped.

"Don't worry! It's just a ship exiting a gate. It's completely non-reflective, so it looks like a hole in space," Tito assured its elder.

"That's frightening!" Juju said quietly.

Tito concurred. Even knowing the ship's scale and nature didn't diminish the visual impact of seeing the void appearing as if it was on the surface of the planet. It pushed its attention back to Juju.

"The ship is called Peacekeeper, and it's crewed by the Ishilon who live on the world, Callosephia. Their Shadeem, the spiritual leader for their people, asked them to come to our aid, and they did," Tito smiled to itself, wondering how its elder would react to its bringing—

"Ambassador Danner! You've brought Jack Danner to Danat?" Juju gasped in shock.

Tito was surprised by the strength of the response. "Uh, yes. Has the fleet made any violent moves?" it asked, pulling its mind back to the business at hand.

"The flagship destroyed the Gate Terminal with a kinetic accelerator. Thanks to your warning, we ensured no one was within the danger zone. We assumed they would target the one means of escape, and we were right. TkaTken is charging with sunlight alone, so we were just about to switch places so it can get a faster, deeper direct charge," Juju remarked.

"Do you have the location of the Dannt-Tik Interface Team? I need to pass the coordinates to Bayly so they can open a Gate to that location.

"They are with Queen Mara's village in the foothills next to the western range." Juju sent the coordinates to Tito, who immediately beamed it to the ship.

Peacekeeper was now completely through its Gate, but it remained a daunting sight.

"There is a doctor on the flagship who needs rescue," Juju said.

"The Ishilon can do site-to-site Gates, so if you can get close enough to the doctor's location, they could open a Gate inside the ship to extract her. I will ask."

Tito sent the message and received a response to proceed with caution moments later.

"Okay, they will get her out, but you must get right next to the ship so they can anchor the Gate to your location. They'll be expecting your signal on this channel," Tito said, beaming the other Tik the contact details.

"Right. See you down on the planet once I help the doctor escape," Juju said as it moved off into the darkness. Tito headed for the planet's surface below.

It wasn't fond of space.

-=-

"Peacekeeper is in position, Shadeem. Tito is rendezvousing with the remaining Tik on Danat, and a Tik named Juju is moving next to The Fang and Claw for us to extract the ship's physician. We will use this opportunity to board the ship. Non-lethal weapons as specified, and all effort will be made to avoid bloodshed," Lorrem explained.

Jack held his eye. "I don't want our people at risk as well. Equal effort should be made to ensure their safety. If it comes down to us or them, make sure it's us."

"Understood, Shadeem. In the meantime, would you like to address the fleet?"

Jack smiled and pulled his shoulders back. "I would. Is the recording of the defeat of their home troops ready?"

"Cued and waiting for your signal," the commander said.

Jack faced the viewscreen. "Hail the fleet."

"Channels are open," the comm officer said quietly.

"This is Ambassador Danner aboard Peacekeeper. You are in violation of the Gate Network non-aggression policy. Your leaders on Krreegah have authorized us to seize the thirty-two vessels you were removed from Krreegah's territorial space without permission, place you under arrest, and return you to Krreegah to stand trial. Your attempt to overthrow your government has failed." Jack nodded to the comm officer, and he played the recording of the ground troops being carted away.

"We are receiving a hail from The Fang and Claw."

"On screen, please," Jack said with a nod.

An older Kreegah warrior with a damaged nose glared out of the screen. "We don't recognize the authority of the Krreegah congress or its leaders, nor do we recognize your authority."

"Am I speaking with Frisky Nougat?" Jack asked politely. He knew it was a childish dig, but this jerk didn't deserve respect.

The scowl deepened. "That's Commander Freskkay Nuugaat."

Jack tilted his head forward in acknowledgment. "You claim not to recognize the legitimately elected government officials who funded the building of the ships you removed without permission?" Jack asked.

Freskkay chose not to continue that topic. "Move your ship or face the consequences."

Jack smiled at the commander. "Do you believe, as Braaddok once did, that the Krreegah are Apex?"

Freskkay twitched at the comment. "We share that belief. We were destined—"

"—to carve out your own destiny in the stars. Yes, he mentioned that just before I cleared up his foolish misconception," Jack said with a sigh and signaled the comm officer to play the clip.

They split the screen and started the clip where Jack put his gloves on.

He watched the commander's severe jolt when Jack broke the other Krreegah's nose. He could see why the commander knew that pain intimately.

Jack looked at the comm officer who cut his mic. "Is this being broadcast to all ships?"

"Yes, Shadeem."

Jack smiled. "Good." He nodded, and his mic was live once more.

He watched the fury building on the face of the commander. That wasn't as good.

-=-

Juju marveled at the good fortune of being able to meet the being whose perceptions it had only recently experienced. It quickly returned its full attention to watching carefully for evidence that its approach to the flagship had been detected, but there was nothing. As it approached the viewport where the doctor had stood a short time ago, it noted she was pacing back and forth. Juju moved right up to the ship next to the window and flashed a light briefly to catch her attention. She spun and moved to the window to stare at Juju in surprise. She quickly used her tablet to send a message. "Help?"

Juju replied, "Is it safe to open a Gate at your location?" Her eyes widened, and she rushed away for a second before returning.

"Yes."

"Step through the Gate to safety," Juju sent, then fired a tight beam to Tito's coordinates. He indicated the doctor would come through.

Moments later, Juju felt someone loosely anchoring to his location. He was able to direct the target to the space he could see through the window and locked the coordinates. Juju watched a Gate form, and the doctor rushed through.

Juju relaxed as she was safe, then what it assumed was an Ishilon came through the Gate, followed by another, then another until there was a stream. Were they boarding the ship? With spears?

One of the Ishilon approached the window and pointed to the planet with a nod. Juju got that message, so it slipped away from the vessel as quietly as it had come. It decided to keep an eye on the battle before it headed for the surface.

It was deeply uncomfortable about what it had just been a participant in. It needed to speak with Tito to see what kind of friends it had brought to rescue them.

-=-

"You must have noticed by now that Dannt society has collapsed. No one lives in the cities. They've reverted to a nomad state because of a plague that wiped out most of their population. And you're here to attack them with spaceships?" Jack scoffed. "Can't you see how much of an asshole that makes you? Do you also attack infants, the elderly, and pregnant females?" Jack's voice dripped with contempt.

Freskkay was paralyzed with rage. His mind finally latched onto his one point. "They wear the skins of my people!"

Jack wasn't going to let him hide behind that excuse. "Only one Dannt has ever left the planet. Up until that moment, they had no knowledge of the Krreegah. Instead, the Dannt discovered, during the collapse of their society, the sudden appearance of creatures who were eating them! This brings me to the question of what Krreegah were doing on Danat so long ago in numbers significant enough to sustain a breeding program? That doesn't suggest it was a friendly introduction between Ambassadors. It says invasion! It was just unfortunate for your army that something on the planet or something missing from their diet caused them to devolve to a feral level. Whatever the case, the Dannt never asked them to be there and don't want them now."

He faced the Krreegah commander and took a deep breath as he glanced at Lorrem, who signaled they were ready. He locked eyes with Freskkay. "As protectors of the Dannt and," Jack held up a red and purple sash, "sanctioned agent of the legitimately elected leaders of Krreegah, we are ordering you to surrender."

He could see the walls going up in the commander's eyes. "All battleships of the armada, fire at that ship," Freskkay ordered calmly as he held Jack's eyes.

Missiles launched from eight of the twelve battleships, so Jack's message reached some captains.

Lorrem nodded to Jack, indicating all incoming missiles were now in their control. Peacekeeper's gravity field manipulators had the missiles in their grip midway between the fleet and the Peacekeeper.

"This is another demonstration that you aren't the biggest predator in the neighborhood." Jack nodded, and Lorem had the missiles crushed. Some exploded, but most just went silent. "Before your people get hurt, I'm advising you again to surrender."

"All ships switch to Energy weapons and fire!" the Krreegah leader ordered.

Soon, beams of energy lashed out from the eight battleships and the flagship to touch the surface of the large black ship with no visible effect. The darkness didn't change at all.

"Storage banks reaching three-quarters capacity," a bridge officer called out.

With a glance at Jack, who nodded, Lorrem turned to his weapon's officer. "Return the energy doubled. Target the sources."

Intense beams of white light leapt from Pacekeeper's jet surface to touch the energy weapon locations of all eight ships. They immediately turned to slag or exploded in the overload of heat.

Watching Freskkay glaring at him, he saw sparks burst from a control panel behind him, and the crew rushed to put it out.

There was an exclamation off-camera to Freskkay's side. "Sir, we've been boarded! Reports from engineering and weapon control. We've lost control of both—"

"SHUT THE COMM DOWN—" Freskkay roared and disappeared from their screen.

Jack sighed. He'd hoped to get through to more of them so they didn't have to go out as martyrs to their cause. He looked to Lorrem. "Can you seize the ships to keep them from running or heading for the planet? Does Peacekeeper have a brig?"

Lorrem smiled. "None of the ships can leave the gravity field. We will move the Krreegah from the ships into our brig if you can ask some of the Tik to provide safe coordinates for the Gates as Juju did."

One of the battleships, notably one which hadn't fired on Peacekeeper, suddenly bulged outwards as a massive explosion tore through it from inside. Something in the belly of the ship, where the armory likely was, had detonated.

As this happened, a battleship fired upon a second vessel that hadn't participated in the futile missile launch. Peacekeeper extended its gravity field to suppress weapon fire while moving closer to the armada. However, a few missiles still managed to strike before the protection could be brought into play. Explosions ripped through the targeted ship.

Lorrem turned to his comm officer. "Let Chena know we'll be bringing casualties on board. Add security details to the sick bay."

Jack turned to the Tik, which had recorded the fight in the Krreegah's Congress and provided playback for the fleet. "Hi, what's your name again?"

"Amiga," it said.

"We'll need help getting the surrendering Krreegah from their ships into Peacekeeper's brig and the injured to our sick bay. May we enlist the aid of the Tik to provide anchored coordinates for the Gates in the ships? We use nonlethal capture methods where possible. We need to move quickly as they are turning on each other. We need to save the ones we can," he said.

"I will ask for volunteers amongst the witness group," Amiga said.

"Thank you, Amiga. Please coordinate the volunteers with the commander," Jack said with a bow.

He looked at the viewscreen showing the ships now frozen in the inky darkness, unable to complete their violent mission but unwilling to accept the fact. He knew he would just get in Lorrem's way if he stayed, so he turned to Bayly, who was almost vibrating with excitement. "As I shouldn't be involved with the remaining duties Lorrem is in charge of, I guess I'm all yours."

Bayly's grin widened.

"I believe you had a petition you wanted me to hear?" he asked.

"Could we go down to the surface?" she asked hopefully.

Jack looked to Lorrem, who nodded. "Take your Ishilon Security Team and your Altarian one, too," he said.

Raising his hands in surrender with a smile, Jack nodded to the commander.

He followed Bayly off the bridge into the hallway where Gee and Bal waited with their overpowered single-person skimmers.

"Where do you think you are taking those?" Jack asked.

"There is no other means to travel on the planet other than on foot. Bal and I would be at a disadvantage if our group needed to move quickly. We cannot run as fast or as far as you. These will allow us to protect you," Gee said plainly. "They are coming."

Jack opened his mouth to protest but saw the conviction in their eyes. They weren't going to budge on this. "Fine."

They'd obviously expected a fight, as he could see in their eyes how his acceptance caught them by surprise.

Dennesh approached with the team. "Tito sent us the coordinates of its location and permission to use it as our anchor point. We are ready to go to the planet's surface at your command."

Jack smiled at her enthusiasm.

Two Tik approached, and Jack noted they'd had some experiences. Their surfaces weren't the smooth, mirror chrome sheen of newborns, but neither had what looked like intentional markings. If Jack hadn't known intimately how adverse Tik were to violence, he might have said these two had gained some of their experience in the darkest alleys of Earth's overpopulated cities.

"I am Sarexa and this is Bronka. Would you mind if we joined you," one asked politely.

Jack held out a hand. "Good to meet you, Sarexa, Bronka. Please do." The Tik shook his hand, then hovered nearby. Jack suddenly realized how handy having the Tik with them would be.

"I suggest Bayly and Sarexa go through the Gate first to let them know we're coming. Sarexa, could you contact Bronka to let us know when Bayly indicates we're clear to join you?"

"Certainly," the Tik replied.

Jack nodded to Dennesh, and a Gate appeared behind her.

Bayly stepped before it and smiled back at Jack before she stepped through. The Tik followed.

Jack quickly reviewed the details he'd pumped out of Tito about the Dannt. He'd hate to make a bad first impression.

He hoped Bayly's emotive sensitivity didn't give her issues.

-=-

Three steps from the Gate, Bayly knew she was in trouble. Arrayed before her were the Tik from the Gate Terminal, her fellow members of the Dannt-Tik Interface Team, including Warrez, the High Priestess Laannaa-Klovalis, and Queen Mara. She felt Gruun and Lena's shock and admiration, Warrez's pride and worry, and her heart swelled with love for them. After riding that high, the High Priestess' anger and fear knocked her equilibrium, and she physically stumbled and fell to her knees. Strong hands caught her and lifted her back to her feet. She looked into the concerned eyes of her Queen and felt her pride and love.

"Are you well, young Bayly?" Mara asked as she released her hands.

"Yes! It's... just going to take some time to get used to feeling everyone's emotions," Bayly said.

"What?" Laannaa gasped louder than the others, who were equally shocked by the confession. Bayly looked anxiously at the High Priestess, but gentle fingers turned her face back to look at the Queen.

"How did you come to find yourself with this ability? Something out there in the Gate Network?" Mara asked.

Bayly's eyes tracked back to Laannaa as her emotions spiked at that suggestion. That was suspicious. Bayly looked into Mara's eyes. "No. I think it's something the Dannt have always had but lost because of the plague that killed so many of our people. We, survivors, carry the plague virus in us to this very day. The Tik allowed me to travel amongst the Gate Network as the virus was not considered contagious to anyone other than the Dannt. But I did infect someone. Someone who just saved us from the Krreegah's invasion force."

Mara gestured to the Tik. "Juju and TkaTken informed us of your encounter with the Krreegah and how we were at risk of being attacked from space. The loss of the Gate Terminal proves how deadly their weapons are. Now you tell us their invasion is over? Stopped before it could begin?"