“Different species? I didn’t know there were different species of orcas.”
” I am Orcinus orca. They are Orcinus nanus.”
“Samson and . . .” Then a memory hit Toman from long ago. “Did Serina name you `Kuro’?”
“Yes. I didn’t like my other name. We decided on Kuro, instead.”
Serina used to have a black teddy bear named Kuro. Toman only remembered it vaguely from a visit long ago, but he was pleased with himself that he did. He’d have to tease Serina about naming Kuro after her teddy bear later.
“What do Samson and Velvet do for Nautilus?” Toman asked.
“Many things, but mostly they warn their submarine Surveyor-One of daeger territories, and protect their swimmers from illcuda and other predators.”
“Don’t orcas have any problems with them?”
“Daeger are slow and noisy. Illcuda are cowards.”
Toman laughed at Kuro’s directness.
His daughter returned at that point, now wearing a black, one-piece bathing suit and tucking her long hair into a rubber cap that she had on. For the next ten minutes, Serina and Kuro played and showed him a few tricks. Serina told him of the research and odd jobs that the institute did for local companies, and about their university patronage with the Telville colleges. Several times they tried to get him to join them in the water, but he still refused. By this point he had concluded, however, that Kuro did not have some horrible grudge against the Concordiat for what they had done to her. She was enjoying her life, it seemed, and probably would not eat him if given the chance. Perhaps he would swim with them tomorrow.
During a lull in the talking, Kuro suddenly made a mournful sound from the water. She announced that Peter was waiting for her at their boat, and that she’d have to leave. Serina explained about the eels that they wanted to research, and then they said good-bye to Kuro.
“Kaethan should be arriving pretty soon,” Serina said as she climbed out and began drying off. “Did you want to wait upstairs in the lobby while I shower?”
“No, I’ll wait for you here.”
Serina shrugged and smiled.
“Okay. It’ll just be a few minutes.”
As Serina left, Colonel Ishida thought that this would be a good time to talk to Chains again. It had been almost twenty minutes, anyway. After taking another drink he reached for his fieldcomm.
“Anything new, Chains?”
“Blackstone is on alert, Commander. The unidentified vessel has still not communicated and is entering orbit on an approach pattern to land at Reims.”
Reims was the starport that served south Deladin, located across from Telville on the East Coast. Starveil was actually closer to Telville than Reims was, so the colonel always landed there instead when he visited.
“Have you scanned the ship?”
Ishida, of course, didn’t have to ask this question. He knew that Chains and Quarter would be all over the intruder the moment they were given High Alert Status. What he wanted was a report, and Chains gave him all the data that he could while Toman listened without a word. The ship was a design that neither Chains nor Quarter had ever logged before, but that was not unexpected. The Concordiat ruled over hundreds of worlds, many with their own merchant fleets operating independently from the interstellar government. None of the data Chains had compiled could confirm without a doubt that this was an alien ship.
The colonel was happy to learn, however, that very few nukes were onboard. It was definitely not a nuclear fireship that was approaching.
“The orbital arrays have ignited their reactors.” Chains suddenly announced.
“Can you tap into their scans?”
“Negative. Data from the holistic systems is encrypted.”
“Damn.”
“What did you say?” Serina said from behind him.
Toman jumped at her voice, and palmed his fieldcomm. Serina was back in her normal clothes and drying her hair with her towel. He tried to think of some excuse for his outburst, but Serina just smiled and spoke before he could form one.
“Security told me that Kaethan just came through the gate. We should go upstairs to meet him.”
“You go ahead, I’ll be right up.”
“Is there something wrong?”
“Maybe.”
Serina stared uneasily at him for a moment, but then turned away and headed for the elevator. Smart girl, he thought.
“Quarter?” He brought his fieldcomm up again.
“Yes, Commander,” replied the light English accent of his second Bolo.
“Get me General Rokoyan, or whoever is in charge at Blackstone.”
“Contacting . . .”
“Call me back when you have someone.”
“Affirmative.”
Colonel Ishida closed his fieldcomm and relaxed in his chair. He really shouldn’t become involved in this situation, but he feared that no one else on the planet was going to confront these people with the cold reality of frontier security procedures. Toman sympathized with Rokoyan, however. The decision to fire would be hard for anyone except a battle-hardened veteran. Rokoyan probably never killed anyone in his life, and the first time was always the most difficult, especially when they weren’t firing back.
* * *
Kaethan entered the lobby just as Serina was exiting the elevator. Her face lit up with a smile as she saw him, but something was obviously troubling her. Serina’s hug was light and quick, with her wet hair only getting his pale green shirt damp on the shoulder.
“Hi, Kaethan.” Serina’s greeting lacked her usual spunk.
“What’s wrong, Serina? Did father get called away again?”
It seemed like a good guess to Kaethan.
“No, he’s downstairs,” she glanced back at the elevator, “but something is wrong. He’s been on the phone constantly talking to his Bolos. Do you know of anything going on?”
Kaethan shook his head. “No.” He shrugged. “Angelrath has the sector on alert, but that’s usual after another one of those probes is caught sneaking around.”
The alerts never caused any concerns with the DDF formations. Only the planetary defenses at Blackstone Ridge ever cared much about them. At no time in Delassian history had the DDF ever “really” been on alert.
“Did father meet Kuro?” Kaethan changed the subject.
“Oh, sure. He didn’t swim with her, though. Maybe you both can tomorrow.”
“Well,” Kaethan’s voice took an edge to it, “I found out this morning that I certainly have the time for it.”
Serina smiled, but before she could say anything the elevator doors slid open and their father walked out. The colonel did indeed look nervous, but Kaethan could see no difference to how he usually looked when the two were together. His smile, as always, seemed forced.
“Hi, Son,” he said as he approached and extended his hand. “Captain,” he then corrected.
“Hi, Father,” Kaethan replied simply and they shook hands briefly. The thought of kidding his father about still being a colonel crossed his mind, but was instantly rejected for obvious reasons. He had been planning a witty remark about coming to the institute to recruit marine mammals, but suddenly it didn’t seem as witty as it had in the car.
The result, of course, was a moment of uncomfortable silence.
But it was just a moment before Serina jumped in.
“Are you two hungry?”
“Yes,” they both said at the same time.
Their father’s fieldcomm beeped suddenly, causing his hand to shoot for his belt in response. The colonel was suddenly embarrassed by this, however, and his face turned apologetic.
“Sorry, but something serious might be happening.”
Serina and Kaethan both nodded, understanding, and let their father retreat a few steps from them.
“Who have you got?” they heard him say into his phone. Then, “Blessed mother . . . uh . . . what’s happening now?”
Kaethan’s interest peaked at this. Not only did it sound like something militarily important was occurring somewhere around Delas, but his father may have almost showed an unprecedented display of emotion. Either would be a first.
“Any ideas?” Serina asked him quietly.
“None.”
His father was pacing now, listening intently. Kaethan and Serina waited patiently. A couple students came through the front doors at this time, but paid them little attention. But as the doors were closing, a sharp crack of distant thunder echoed through them into the lobby.
“I hope that it doesn’t rain,” Serina complained.
“I don’t think that was lightning.” Kaethan now started growing nervous.
Their father stopped in his tracks and peered outside the glass doors, though nothing but the parking lot could be seen.
“A warning shot?” The colonel growled, obviously not happy with the half-measure. “Any reaction?”
“Blackstone just fired their Hellbore,” Kaethan enlightened his sister. “And if we heard that all the way down here, then that means that their target is already in the atmosphere, and nearby.”
Their father had not returned to his pacing, instead he just stood there staring blankly outside, tapping his foot.
“Damn!” Their father yelled suddenly. It was the kind of exclamation that someone might sound if an opposing team just scored a last second touchdown to win a game. “Lock on and ask Blackstone for permission to fire!”