Helium3 Box Set by Nick Travers

  Chapter 9

  Mervyn balled his fists in fury, ‘You said, if I escaped with your family you would help us off-- ‘

  ‘I said, if you left without them you would never leave the planet.’

  Mervyn felt Loren’s arm on his shoulder, ‘Merv, that’s exactly what he said. He didn’t promise...’ The fight drain out of Mervyn’s body like a deflating balloon. She was right, but somehow he had assumed... or hoped... or maybe just deluded himself -- and everyone else.

  A howl rent the air nearby: the trackers had caught up at last.

  ‘Come on, guys,’ Tarun said, ‘at least we’re out, and that gives us a chance, doesn’t it?’ Dejectedly, they turned away from the sound of pursuit.

  ‘Of course,’ Guthrik said casually. ‘If you were interested in another deal--’

  ‘Only if it includes my father,’ Mervyn snapped, spinning back to face his tormentor.

  ‘Do you think I have a death wish, boy? A bunch of meddlesome kids escaping is no threat to the Naga, but a member of the Republican Senate disappearing before the attack--’

  ‘What attack?’

  The other Misfits turned back with interest, but Guthrik clamed up.

  Mervyn studied the human’s stony fade, ‘You mentioned an attack,’ he persisted, ‘what’s the target?’

  ‘I can get you off this planet. Are you interested?’

  ‘He means the Naga’s attack on Ethrigia -- to soften it up for the Centaph swarm,’ Loren said daring the Human to deny it.

  Unnervingly Guthrik laughed, ‘You think the Puncheon would waste their time on Ethrigia? It will sue for terms as the first Centaph transports land.’

  Aurora’s eyes narrowed indignantly, ‘The Patriarch is a brave leader.’

  ‘Your uncle is a brave politician, and maybe a brave negotiator, but he is no warrior. Even Lord De Monsero, the most vicious of your race, is hardly a military leader. Ethrigia is not the key to this sector of the galaxy.’

  Mervyn remembered Valna saying something similar in Bar-None and recognised the truth of Guthrik’s reasoning, ‘He’s right, I should have seen it before, the Naga isn’t after Ethrigia -- he’s after the Republic. He’s going to attack Zetalona, the administrative centre of the Republic.’ He wondered if Guthrik knew about the missing shipment of Helium3.

  ‘My whole family’s on Zetalona,’ Loren gasped.

  ‘Great Muons,’ Tarun said, ‘someone needs to warn them.’ Then his chima blanched as he remembered he was talking to the Naga’s henchman.

  ‘Smart lad,’ Guthrik said with a grin. ‘Take out Al-Zak-Uilin’s New Republic and the whole sector falls like a ripened fruit. I would rather that didn’t happen, so here is the deal -- I get you off Pershwin and you warn Al-Zak-Uilin the Naga is about to attack.’

  Aurora frowned, ‘Why? What is in it for you?’

  ‘None of your business, young lady.’

  Mervyn glanced round as a ‘Crack,’ sounded from the edge of the forest, but it was only the Ureg trees shifting uncomfortably at the raised voices. As he looked out across the beautiful landscape of Pershwin a crazy suspicion suddenly solidified in his mind.

  ‘He wants Pershwin,’ Mervyn said staring Guthrik in the eye. ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ He didn’t need confirmation, he knew already, ‘Pershwin -- the New Earth.’

  ‘The Republic will never let you keep it,’ Tarun warned regaining his colour, ‘even if you desert the Naga you will forever be his accomplice.’

  Guthrik smiled, ‘We have Helium-three and right now the republic desperately needs Helium-three.’

  Guthrik had a point, but so did Tarun -- another betrayal would never endear the marauders to Al-Zak-Uilin regardless of how much Helium3 they might have.

  Even so, the idea of a human homeland did have a certain appeal. Had his father not said Humans were the only species who could take on the Centaph? And Cage claimed he could drive the Centaph out of the sector with only a squadron of Humans. What could the Republic do with a whole tribe of them? To stand any chance of inheriting Pershwin Guthrik would have to make the Republic eternally grateful. A plan began to stir in Mervyn’s mind, and with it the hope he thought had died.

  ‘Unless,’ Mervyn said with enthusiasm, ‘you stop the Naga before he reaches Zetalona. Then a grateful Republic might just reward you -- I know my dad would support that.’

  ‘So would mine,’ Tarun said.

  Guthrik shook his head, ‘Going up against the Naga’s warship would be too costly, I would lose too many of my people.’

  ‘So, your new world is not worth fighting for then,’ Aurora challenged.

  Guthrik shook his head, ‘It would be a suicide mission. The Naga’s warship would have to lose its power core for us to stand any chance of victory -- and that would take a miracle.’

  ‘A small team inserted to disable the core-’ Mervyn began.

  ‘Let’s stick with reality, shall we,’ Guthric sneered, ‘now, does the deal interest you or not?’

  ‘I’m in,’ Mervyn said, and the others, following his lead, nodded their approval.