The Tomb World Ch13

The sounds of the city woke Fezzen before his alarm clock. He hadn’t slept well, disturbed by strange dreams he couldn’t remember. He idly wondered if the hyoomanz shared that trait, then he remembered what had happened with the hyoomanz. Dan-yalz had seemed like such an honorable and respectable man, like Foric, but then he had tried to doom the Yunyon to death by swarm. Why?

Death by Swarm was the worst way to die, because not only did it mean that you were eaten by mindless space monsters, but your very body was then repurposed into making more Swarm drones. Some in the ground forces would rather commit suicide via incendiary grenade than let the Swarm get them.

In his early life, back when he barely had enough mind about him to remember things, he had once witnessed the Swarm up close during a raid. Even with the Watchers scanning the skies and the pilots patrolling the buried street tunnels, sometimes small detachments of the swarm found their way into the cities.

It was assumed from autopsy that these drones were slightly defective in one way or another, so the Hive sent them to die on the City-planet. Whether it was an intelligent choice to menace them, or simple convenience was still up for debate. But they came, and the death and destruction was great.

Surviving that raid was one of Fezzen’s earliest memories, maybe even the first. It was what drove him to follow his Uncle into military service instead of his father into politics.

But Dan-yalz would have let them die by Swarm, and had wanted them to die as well. Even Sahm, who had been the voice of reason, was reluctant to save them. Why?

Fezzen clawed the sleep-dust out of his eyes and flopped out of his hammock. He fell for a couple tails before he caught a rope claw grip and swung down in a more controlled manner. He thumped down into the kitchen and began to pick through leftovers in the fridge. Most nights he returned to the barracks to rest besides his brothers and sisters, but on his leave days he returned to his parent’s home to rest in his old bed. Most couples had many, many children. But his mother was unfit for childbearing, so he was her only son. Though not his father’s only son.

As he was pulling out a container of wrapped dishes his mother made a curious hoot from her hammock above the kitchen. Fezzen called back letting her know it just him and that she should return to sleep. He loved his mom, but he needed to be alone right now.

Had Dan-yalz and the other hyoomanz been lying to them? This whole time they had seemed so people like, Gotari-like, but could that have been an act to trick them? Pretending to be like them to get closer to them? It didn’t seem right.

He felt deep down that their alien visitors weren’t putting on an act.

But then-

The door bells jingled and Fezzen was startled out of his contemplations. His mother let out another hoot, “I’ve got it mom, you should rest.” He called back as he set his food down and leapt to the next level of their home to open the door.

He opened the door to see Watch Captain Foric, his paternal uncle, was waiting there for him. “Uncle.” Fezzen blurted out in shock.

The floor shook slightly as his mother leapt up behind him. “Foric?” She asked curiously.

The proud Foric dipped his head in respect towards his mother “Minna, may I borrow your son?” he asked politely. Foric had always been oddly formal with his mother.

His mother cocked her head to one side and glared “You get him to yourself six days a week, and when its my turn you wish to interrupt?”

Fezzen felt his heart lurch “Mom!” he pleaded.

“It is fine nephew” Foric interrupted, his rigid tail now swinging back and forth in amusement. “I only wish to have a quick chat Minna, after that I’ll be on my way.”

His mom still looked displeased, but in the end she relented. “Be quick.” She ordered.

In the unspoken social hierarchy a Watch Captain would have no need to listen to an out of work female. But between Foric and his mother, Fezzen knew who out ranked who.

Foric’s tail flicked and he walked back to the rope walk. Fezzen’s mother gave him a quick peck on the cheek before silently shoving him out the door.

Fezzen wasn’t sure why his people still called it a rope walk since no one had actually built a rope walk out of rope in hundreds of cycles. Real fiber rope was too rare on their new home to waste on making walkways, and more industrial materials could get the job done better. Real rope was reserved to the netting in homes.

Modern Rope walks were made of noncorrosive metal chains and hard plastic slats. And only the elderly used the slats. Everyone else just swung across the chains.

Looking about Fezzen idly wondered how the hyoomahns would get about Moulvus on their own. The slatted walkway was far to narrow for their wide hips and long legs, and after Dan-yalz and Sahm had barely managed the climbing tower he doubted they could easily swing across the city.

Then he remembered his last interaction with the hyoomahnz and got sad.

Foric had heard the slight pause in Fezzen’s swings and stopped “You’re thinking about the hyoomahns.” He stated.

Fezzen thought about denying it, but his uncle/commander would see right through him. “Yes.”

“You are disturbed by what we saw yesterday” Again this was a statement rather than a question.

“Yes” Fezzen answered.

“Good” Foric rumbled gruffly.

“Good?” Fezzen asked.

“Yes. It is good that you are questioning it and not making choice in your gut. You have been getting along well with our visitors, I was worried you might side with them on principle. I also know that the Swarm has deeply affected your life, so I didn’t want you to denounce the hyoomahns on instinct.”

“So you want me to be confused?” Fezzen asked hesitantly.

“Not confused, but undecided. We do not know why Dan-yals acted the way he did, but we do know that he has so far been a reasonable and honorable man. So I doubt he would doom a whole ship without good reasons. Or at least, good reasons to him.”

“No one deserves death by Swarm.” Fezzen muttered bitterly.

“You are correct, but remember that Dan-yals is not one of us. He has only encountered the swarm once in his life, and I’m told they didn’t lose any crew to breachers. To him this Yunyonmight be the greater evil.”

Fezzen blinked in confusion “Evil? Dan-yalz said his people were apart of the Yunyon?”

“You were only listening to what he said, not what he didn’t.”

Fezzen was confused by that.

Foric looked back mid swing and saw his confusion. “He said his people were apart of this Yunyon, but the way he said it struck me as bitter. He did not call his people Yunyoncitizens, or members, just people under their control. He said his people no longer had their own military, that it was disbanded when the Yunyon came along. He said his people could join the Yunyon military but were blocked by politics. This strikes me more as a conquered people than willing members.”

Fezzen was surprised “The hyoomahnz were conquered?” that statement felt wrong even as he said it. The hyoomahnz were the strongest people Fezzen had ever met. What kind of foe could beat them?

“Maybe, this is all more deduction than hard fact. I could very well be misreading this. All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t make any brash judgements you might regret. We still haven’t even met the crew of this Yunyon ship.”

Fezzen wasn’t sure how to feel about that as well. Dan-yalz had come out to greet them as soon as he was able. The meeting had been bizarre and intense at first, but he had taken every effort to diffuse the tension. Now a whole day after the Yunyon came to their world and they still hadn’t emerged.

Foric and Fezzen continued their swing around the neighborhood, and as he promised Foric returned Fezzen to his mother after a short jaunt. His mind now less crowded than before he was able to better enjoy his off-day.

Still, his mind would sometimes wander towards the hyoomahnz  as he wondered.

~~~*~~~

During their time together Eliza had seen Daniels in many circumstances. She had seen him angry with a blade pressed to her neck. She had seen him calm and collected when dealing with uncontacted aliens. She had seen him in a white hot rage upon finding his tortured helmsmen, and had seen him grimly determined to sacrifice himself during those final moments of the mutiny.

But she had never, not even once, seen him drunk.

Let alone whatever state he was in now.

His cabin reeked of rum, and through the dimmed lights Eliza could see his booze-stained robes tossed carelessly on the ground. Given the immaculate condition Daniels kept his cabin the single item of discarded clothing was all the more jarring.

Sitting on his bed, pressed into one corner of his cabin, was Daniels. A bottle of liquor in hand, his head drooping, and his torso completely bare. Eliza had to rip her eyes away from his toned chest as Daniels head lifted up and glared at her with a hazy expression. “Wozz’air” He muttered through slurred breath.

Eliza kept the lights off as she stepped through the door and pressed the button to close it. The crew didn’t need to see their captain like this. She adjusted the lights enough to see the room, but not bright enough to affect his eyes.

“Oh, it’syu” he muttered.

Eliza let out a sigh and stepped forward. She was about to sit beside him on his bed, but before she did that something needed to be addressed. She stooped down, picked up the discarded Japanese shirt/robe thing and tossed it into his laundry hamper. The room now back to its pristine order Eliza dragged his office chair over and sat in front of him.

He saw her adjusting her petty coats and frowned. “I never assed. Why doyu wear, wear, wear…” he paused, his slowed mind grasping for the words. “all that” he finished after failing to find the right words.

“Because it is elegant and refined, why do you dress like a samurai?” she retorted patiently.

His frown deepened “Its da’uniform. Be weird not ‘ta wear it.”

There was something more to that statement “So you don’t feel comfortable if your not dressed like everyone else?”

He shrugged “It makes things easier. Don’ need to pick out anything new each day since I always wear the same thing.”

Now it was Eliza’s turn to frown. She could have left it there, but something in her told her that was wrong. “I like to dress this way because it makes me feel unique, for a long time there wasn’t anything special about me or my sister.”

“Sides be’en rich.” He retorted.

“Not so much by Martian standards.”

“Your sista spent her inher, inerhanc…” he fumbled on the word.

“Inheritance?” Eliza offered.

He pointed at her “Dat one. She spent dat on a warchip, a big one to.”

“As I understand it she used her estate inheritance as collateral for a large bank loan.”

He snorted. “If I usssed my parents house as collateral I would only get a nice shortranged shuttle, not a warship.”

There no was point in arguing about this, especially given the way he was right now. “Why are drunk captain? The Union vessel has been trying to reach us, but we haven’t been able to answer without you.”

“Fuck’em” he grumbled. “Fuck them, and their whole union to hell and back.”

Eliza quirked an eyebrow. “While I understand your enmity that doesn’t explain your reaction.”

He glared “They’re monsters. They’re as evil as it gets, killing whole races just because they don’t fit their mold.” He was becoming more coherent the more impassioned he got.

Eliza had seen plenty of drunken tirades in her days as an undergrad, best to knip this in the bud. “Captain, that doesn’t explain why your drunk.” She said pointedly.

He looked down, “couldn’t sleep.” He murmured.

“Nightmares?” she asked softly.

He nodded. “I get them sometimes, always about the same day.”

Eliza knew him well enough that she didn’t need to ask what it was that kept him up at night. Daniels joined the Hellworlder fleet with his younger brother, they had joined because they thought it would be their chance to make a difference.

When a rival pirate started a war with a sneak attack Daniels and his brother eventually found themselves fighting other Terrans on a world that would become Earth’s first extrasolar colony. Daniels watched his brother die before his eyes, and found that he didn’t have the stomach for the life of a space soldier.

“Only sometimes?” she asked instead.

“Yeah, whenever I’m not doing things, mission things. It’s worse when I’m back home or on leave. I think with all that’s happened so far I’ve fallen out of the right headspace to keep me focused on the mission. So I thought maybe I needed a little nip to put me back to sleep.” He explained.

Eliza frowned. “Captain, we have actual sleeping medicine on this ship. And I would hardly call a whole bottle of rum just a nip.” She chided.

He blinked, “Bottle, no, it was just one cup.”

She gave him a flat stare. “This room practically reeks of booze, and even without that do you expect me to believe that it was only one when your this drunk.”

His cheeks flushed. “It was one, I just spilled the bottle, ‘ts why I took my shirt off. I’m just a pushover.”

She cocked her head at him. “Whether it was a whole bottle or just one drink you still drank enough to leave yourself completely intoxicated.”

“Its been a while, one used to be fine,”

She rolled her eyes, “Lay back captain. You need to sleep.”

His head rose and wavered from side to side as he tried to look her head on. For a minute Eliza worried he might say something he’d regret in the morning, but should have known better. Even drunk Daniels was still Daniels. “Maybe I will.” He muttered before leaning forward.

Eliza helped put her captain to bed, and left the snore filled room with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Things were tense enough as it was, and they would need all their wits for the coming days.

This incident did not bode well.