|
A sharp-angled vessel descends from the sky above to settle on the surface of Impiruil Baile.
At long last, it would appear, the Hekayti have arrived to take custody of the abandoned Dominion warships.
The whir and hiss of the retrojets dissipate just before the airlock hatch thunks and slides open. From the airlock slides a descending ramp composed of interlocked metal mesh panels. As the ramp locks into place, connecting with the ground, several Hekayti warriors in heavy armor and clutching plasma rifles emerge from the airlock and descend toward the surface.
The smartsuited architect slash councilman remains standing where he has been for awhile. It was his turn to keep an official eye on the ships should the delegation arrive. The white tiger at his side looks pleased that things are apparently about to happen.
The various guards, both REM and Danu based, keep guarding things. Like guards do.
Xanya arrives from one of her own ships. She also wears a Smart suit much like Kethren does. Behind her is a female Falari guard that follows her. Xanya moves towards Kethren to stand near him. Xanya's personal guard stands a bit behind Xanya to her left.
After the contingent of warriors has assembled on the landing pad before the ramp, their commander thumps down in heavy boots. His face is scarred. His left hand is gone, replaced by a sparking metal trident. He regards the assembled settlers of Impiruil Baile before glancing toward the Dominion hardware. A grunt, then he looks toward Kethren, assessing him as the leader of the moment. "It is good that you called for our assistance."
The architect idly scratches the tiger at his side while examining the freshly landed ship for markings and the like "Interesting vessel."
He then turns his attention to the apparently in charge person. "Good afternoon. I'm Councilor Kethren, of the Danu Chroi empire. And who might you be?"
The Hekayti leader favors Kethren with a grim snarl. Markings on his ship appear to be those of a Ledelkrig warship. He steps closer to the human and lifts his chin, staring down his nose at the Outverser. "You wanted the Hekayti government to take these Dominion vessels off your hands. I am responsible for doing just that. More than this, you do not need to know."
Xanya smiles a bit glad that someone has finally arrived. Other then that she has a neutral face as she examines the hekayti and listens to their apparent leader talk with Kethren.
A small, black orb with gold veining over the surface putters into the area, the hardware taking up residence between the duo councilmen. The orb whirls while floating, like a slow-motion baseball in mid-pitch. Perhaps not immediately obvious, the orb belongs to the Danu Chroi Organization's positronic, Gea, and she's in no position to let a stranger's word stand on its own.
Any and all call designations, registration signs, and markings on the hull of the newly arrived Hek ship are run for confirmation and if any of this particular class of Ledelkrig warship has been reported as stolen or appropriated by a deserter. Special attention is paid to documentation of damaged, or abandoned Ledelkrig warships as well, on the suspicion that one of them may have been salvaged, and isn't being used for sanctioned Hekayti purposes. For a moment, the hovering holoball considers including the documented sale of surplus ships, and ultimately adds this in the criteria.
At the same time, the Hek ship's communications are pinged for standard docking registration information. A quick scan is also taken of the life forms disembarking from the Hekayti ship, and all physical characteristics are run through the accessible database of known persons (criminal, organizational and governmental), as well as a reasonable once-over of news reports and associated images. All queries are perpetrated over a heavily encrypted signal.
The two suspect ships (i.e. AMI's and Xul's) have been locked down, obviously before the delegation even arrived, the normally passive electromagnetic docking devices instead crackling with the active flow of current.
Gea’s search turns up no reports of missing Ledelkrig vessels. None of the warriors gathered at the base of the ramp match any faces from known criminal databases. But the Hekayti with the sparking trident where his hand should be – he does, in fact, show up in quite a few archives.
He is identified as Vard Bokren, formerly an ally of Zar Hideg Fekretu with a reputation as a bloodthirsty pirate and smuggler. Presumably an outcast of the Hekayti, one of the Medlidikke, at last report.
Kethren grins up at the hek leader. “Actually, considering that we're a sovereign government, and this is our territory, we really do need to know who you are. Along with your clearance codes.”
The Hekayti with the trident-festooned hand frowns, pacing slowly in front of Kethren and his companions. "I am in no way obligated to provide the likes of you with my clearance codes. However, you are free to contact the intelligence office on Hekayt Prime and inform them that Vard Bokren has arrived on your world to take possession of the Dominion ships and that you are terrified that the mean old ex-pirate is up to mischief. Once you are satisfied that I am who I say I am and that my purpose here is legitimately authorized by the Hekayti government, then perhaps we can all get on with our lives."
Without taking his attention from the potential pirate, the architect calmly addresses the poistronic nearby "Gea, would you be so kind as to place a call to Hekayti intelligence on a secure channel to verify this? Last thing we need is for their government to be landing troops here over us handing ships over to the wrong person when we weren't given advance notice of who to be expecting."
The floating orb wobbles within its gyroscope limits, producing several tones that eventually bleed into standard Terran speech. "Opening communications." An attempt is made, through a secure path, to establish a connection wit the Hekayti government. The call is carefully monitored, to make sure that it is routed precisely to the location where it is meant to go, and not otherwise intercepted or observed by any other sources.
"I find it notable that I did a check upon arrival of our apparent diplomatic contingent here. The man is who he says he is, though there seem to be no more outstanding warrants for his alleged acts of piracy. The ship's registration numbers do check out; there have been no stolen or hijacked vessels of this class, and there appears to be no abandoned or salvaged ones, either. The Ledelkrig are elite ships."
Once the salutation for the Hekayti government communication is given, the positronic will navigate through the automated menu to public relations. Assuming that the phone is answered by a sentient being, rather than an automation service, the orb will relay, "Representative of Danu Chroi looking for confirmation that Vard Bokren was dispatched as an official Hekati delegation to recover and remove the ships of Xul and AMI from Impiruil Baile."
Flickering into high resolution, the newly-formed hardlight levels a cerulean gaze on the weathered pirate. "Allow me to clarify for the councilman: he wishes to know if you were given any form of documentation from the Hekayti government to pass onto us, in order to make this transfer as smooth as possible. We are, of course, aware that there are others who are offering a reward for these vessels, and their owners. I'm sure our caution is appropriate."
A representative of the Hekayti intelligence service confirms to Gea: "Bokren does, in fact, represent our interests. You are expected to transfer custody of the Dominion starships over to him and the Ledelkrig personnel that have accompanied him for this mission. Failure to do so will be considered an act of hostility. Suffice it to say, it is in your world's best interests to keep hostilities to a minimum."
Vard, meanwhile, responds to the positronic with a dour scowl: "I don't make a habit of carrying my super-secret spy papers around. If my bosses disown me and say I stole a ship and kidnapped a bunch of soldiers who are not shooting me in the back right now and demanding asylum, well, let me assure you, they've done worse things to me in the past. But I'm not lying this time."
Xanya has observed and listened so far hearing from the phone call that everything checks out she relaxes a bit.
"Personally I am satisfied with this confirmation. I do apologize for the inconvenience this is causing you sir. But as is already said we are cautious for a reason."
She then looks to Kethren.
"I think we can let Mr. Bokren and his crew do his work now and collect the two ships. What do you say?"
The architect nods at the positronic "Thank you, Gea."
With his attention returned to the alleged pirate, he smiles "Now that that formality's out of the way, you are most welcome to secure those ships and take them away. We do apologize for any inconvenience. If it's not terribly inconvenient though, we were told that you'd be authorized to negotiate rewards for this."
"Taking these off your hands not considered reward enough, I take it?" Bokren asks, chuckling. "What do you want for your trouble?"
Kethren smiles "Oh, it's a great help. What we'd like though, is a trade agreement giving us exclusive rights to provide Hekayt Prime's coffee supply. It is widely considered the best available, and of course we'd be happy to provide samples before any agreement."
The one-handed pirate/spy chief furrows his brow as he contemplates the offer. "I have heard rumors of this beverage you call 'coughing.' Or is it 'cuff-it?' The Konterbeid seem especially fond of the drink, when they can get their hands on it. How much can you provide and on what schedule?"
The architect nods. "Well, a case could be made it's not coffee per se, as those beans are native to another universe, whereas the product we are offering is native to this planet. Chemical analysis however, does reveal it to be essentially the same. Apart from the flavors that are unique to what we grow here, of course. For now we can let you have a quarter ton of beans. Once the coffee plantation is up at full production, which shouldn't be long, we should be able to provide a half ton monthly, with the provision that we may expand the plantation if demand is sufficiently high."
Bokren scratches his cheek with the good hand (not the one that sparks, and one might notice the Hekayti's face has burn scars where, some time ago, instinct may have led to accidents). A few moments later, he says, "Six month contract, with the option for a year if we are satisfied with the product."
"Sounds good enough to me. it has my approval. how about yours?" Xanya says looking to kethren and the other of the council present.
Kethren nods thoughtfully, tapping quickly into his pda "Yes, I think that would be fair."
A small sheaf of papers projects themselves before the one handed fellow.
"If you'd be so kind as to read over the contract and sign if it all looks alright, we can then send copies to you and the Hek government, and then we can see about rounding up that first shipment."
"I will have the Konterbeid review the contract, but I expect they will find the terms satisfactory," Bokren says. He turns toward the waiting Ledelkrig soldiers and orders them, "Get the Toveil aboard the Bright Cluster ships. We leave within the hour."
Xanya's smile disappears a bit as Bokren starts giving orders. She moves to a spot from where she can keep an eye out on the ships and the Ledelkrig soldiers. Both out of a sense of security for the people of Baile as well as curiosity for the way of working of the Ledelkrig Soldiers.
The architect nods "By all means. We'll have the first shipment loaded and ready to be sent over the moment we get a signature."