Skin Deep, Part One

Warlord Shank's royal transport shuttle flew into Docking Bay 7 of Killcruiser Ka'ar. He waited impatiently for the doors to open, then forced his daughter, Elmira, out before him. In the docking bay the owner of the killcruiser, Warlord Kzar, eagerly awaited their approach.

Shank bowed his head formally. "Warlord Kzar of Ka'ar, Warlord Shank of the Royal Killcruiser shows his gratitude-"

"Elmira!" Skipping past the Spung formalities of welcome Kzar engulfed his niece in a big hug. "Oh honey, how you've grown." He gave his brother a smile. "Shank, what are you feeding this kid?"

Shank winced at being referred to without his honored title and decided to continue with his speech. "...for allowing Warlord Shank's daughter, Serola Elmira to stay with Warlord Kzar while Warlord Shank is called away to discuss strategy plans with the Council."

"Man, Shank, doesn't all that repeating of royal titles give you a headache?" Kzar laughed. "Anyway, welcome to my home! And Elmira, as long as you're here, my home is your home."

Caught in the middle of another squashing hug, Elmira managed to get out "Thank you, Uncle."

Shank looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Warlord Shank trusts that Serola Elmira will be well behaved during her stay on Killcruiser Ka'ar."

"Of course, Father." Elmira was willing to do anything from being well behaved to piloting a killcruiser in a war zone to get away from Shank. Recently he'd been a bit on edge and demanded her "assistance" at extensive rates. Elmira was so worn out that Shank's call to the Council came as a blessing. For the first time in her life, she felt glad she was a female and not allowed to join her father.

"Brother, would you like to stay with us for a meal before your journey to the Council?" Kzar offered.

"Warlord Shank is must obliged but he cannot," Shank said arrogantly. "For those of us who have been called, we know that tardiness to a meeting with the Council is not taken lightly. But I suppose you would not know that... brother."

Kzar looked down, shifting his weight from one foot to another. In the Spung culture, where warfare was most valued, the Council had little interest in traders like Kzar. They particularly disliked this Warlord because he could, by Spung law, own the title and the killcruiser since he completed Warlord training. But Kzar had decided to take out most of Ka'ar's weapons and turn it into a trading station, where a diversity of aliens could trade in peace. If it were not for his title and position as next in lineage for Shank's title as Head Warlord, the Council would have terminated him years ago.

"Goodbye then Father," Elmira suddenly broke in, shattering the silence.

Shank repeated his formal bow. "Warlord Kzar. Serola Elmira." With that he turned on his heel and stalked back onto his transport.

"Lets get out of here," Kzar whispered to his niece before the transport took off.

Kzar punched in the clearance code and the doors to the killcruiser opened for them. Elmira gasped in wonder. It had been years since she'd seen her uncle's killcruiser and besides from that, it looked different from any other vessel in the Spung Empire.

The corridors were bathed in light instead of darkness. All sorts of humanoids and otherwise walked along with ease, joking with each other, not stiff and quiet like Spung officials and their females on regular killcruisers.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Kzar commented on Elmira's reaction. "I bet you'd never see this on your father's ship."

Elmira shook her head. "No."

"Well, Shank has always been an old age thinker." Kzar responded. "By the way, what's up with him? He seems to get nastier by the minute."

"Father has been under a lot of stress recently," Elmira replied. "And since he's stressed, he feels he has the right to stress out others too. Especially me. Sometimes I cannot stand my powers!" Thinking for a minute she asked tentatively "Uncle, you have no use for my powers, do you?"

"Oh sure I do," Kzar answered. "Who doesn't need an oracle around to tell them how they'll fare in the future? But don't you worry, I won't force you into anything. Besides I'm the one who should navigate my life, not you."

Elmira smiled broadly at him. Thank the Council for sending all my fathers closest acquaintances to this meeting as well, or else I may never have had this opportunity to share with Uncle. Oh joy, finally I'm at peace!

"These will be your quarters," Kzar said, leading Elmira to a large room in the residential wing of Ka'ar. "It may not be what you're used to but…"

"It's beautiful," Elmira breathed. The room was small with a simple bed taking up most of the space. But gales of light streamed down from the ceiling, it being consumed by a lighting fixture. The light created designs on the walls and seemed to illuminate the bed. Elmira was caught in a trance by its beauty.

But suddenly something from the corridor snapped her out of her thoughts. Several scruffy looking Spung were being forced down the passage by guards. But something other than their clothes made these Spung look different, almost alien… Elmira focused hard, trying to figure it out.

A caress dropped on her shoulder and she jumped, surprised. Kzar looked soft and concerned. "You pay those Scuff no mind, honey."

"Scuff?"

'Yes." Kzar's face turned to portray discomfort. "Being a female you may not know of such things but the Scuff are a tribe of the poorest Spung in the galaxy. They were banned from almost all of Spung territory. I pleaded to keep them as our equals on Ka'ar at least, but the Council protested-"

"The Council? But don't they let each killcruiser deal with its problems independently?"

"Why yes they do," Kzar said, surprised by his niece's knowledge of politics. "But the Council feared disapproval and uprisings from people like us, the high class, so they forced me to make slaves out of the Scuff."

"Slaves?" Elmira was outraged. "You mean the Council was willing to make their own kind slaves?"

"Well they don't call it that," Kzar's surprise was replaced with bitterness. "They call the Scuff 'servants.' Servants who just happen to do the work of slaves!"

Elmira stared at her uncle with new admiration for him flowing through her. This is exactly what the Empire needs, she schemed. A respected male with a good heart, who could change our morals to good. Out loud she asked "Where will they be taken?"

Again, Kzar looked uncomfortable. "Due to the menial work and conditions they have to put up with, many of them contract… the Dreaded Disease."

Elmira drew back in terror. She read of the Dreaded Disease, which passed from Spung to Spung and killed all it infected. And suddenly the difference she saw in the Scuff came to her- they all looked pale and sickly.

Kzar continued "they will be taken to a room designed for Spung with the Disease where they can live out their last days in peace and… not risk the chance of infecting others."

Totally swallowed up in her fear, Elmira did not realize she was moving until a sudden guard, clad in armor and carrying a small child, ran into her. "Stand back, female!" the guard yelled while the Spung child desperately clung to Elmira's body, fear and terror rampant in his eyes.

Finally Kzar dragged her backward and the child's claw was torn free from her. As the guard continued down the corridor Elmira realized. The child looked like the Scuff.

Half an hour later, after some nourishment, Elmira lay alone in her quarters, thinking about the Scuff and the Dreaded Disease. Up until this afternoon both topics had been a mystery to her. But now, on an independent Spung trading ship she was learning more about her people and their customs. And the more she learned, the less she liked.

Why were these Scuff forced into unsanitary conditions, where contracting this disease was a possibility? Two answers came to Elmira's mind: one, Kzar didn't want to risk any more disdain from the Council, two, Spung knew close to nothing on the Disease. All they knew that it was similar to an Earther disease, it started with the Spung it infected getting tired and pale, it was contagious somehow and it always ended in death. Elmira had never been exposed to the disease before this but had heard that the Spung were afraid to do any more research or tests on it, for fear they would be infected. Better to just leave the infected to die, was the Spung way of thinking.

The whole thing disgusted Elmira; if any of the elite were exposed to the Dreaded Disease then the Spung would surely change their actions! What if her father were to suddenly feel fatigued and look pale? But speaking of that… I do feel a little tired right now, sort of sickly too. Perhaps this traveling and pondering has wearied me; I'd best get some sleep.

"Serola! Serola Elmira!" Elmira was stirred awake by the sound of her name. A small Spung child, a Scuff by the looks of her clothes and demeanor, stood in a corner, pale with fright.

I won't hurt you, Elmira tried to call out but her voice didn't come. A numbness seemed to loom over her trachea, over her whole body in fact. "Serola, Master Kzar sent me to attend you… you, you have the Dreaded Disease!"

Surprise and shock took over the Spung princess. This has to be a dream, due to the fact that I was thinking about the Scuff. No elite Spung gets the Dreaded Disease! How is this possible? "How…" she managed to whisper.

"I… I've seen Scuff that look like you and then… they are taken away." The girl gasped, eyes growing wider. "The guards then told us they had the Dreaded Disease. You must have it!"

No elite Spung ever gets the Disease… The thought kept playing itself over and over in Elmira's head. Suddenly she remembered- the little boy, carried in the arms of the guard- Kzar said the group they traveled with had the Dreaded Disease. The boy touched my arm and the disease is infectious…

No elite Spung gets the Disease… the thought still played in her head. "There's no cure," Elmira whispered aloud. "I will die of it. There's no cure…"

"I will send for the Master." The girl Scuff was already running out of the room, anxious to put distance between herself and the Disease.

Meanwhile Elmira turned her head in despair. Even if Uncle doesn't send me to the rooms he mentioned he'd have to pen me up until I die. There's no way for him to help me. There's no way for any Spung to help me… Elmira paused, reflecting on her last thought. If only I weren't in the company of Spung, who are too stubborn and arrogant to research this disease. If only I were on the Christa… Her powers spoke to her, unbidden. The Christa's crew, they're the only ones who can save me. Fighting against the overwhelming feeling of sickness inside, Elmira reached deep into herself and called out a name. Radu.

Radu woke up in a cold sweat, shouting out her name.

"Hey," Harlan said groggily, throwing his pillow at the Andromedan. "Some of us are trying to sleep around here."

Radu ignored him, or maybe he didn't hear the human at all. "She said… she said danger, but not… not for us."

"What are you talking about?" Harlan started to get up.

Finally Radu looked at the Earther, his face pale from the impact of a vision. "It's Elmira," he said emotionally. "She sent me a psychic message. She's in danger." He swallowed, but could not quell his shaking. "She's dying."

Commander Seth Goddard listened to Radu stoically, a frown creasing his face. "Just let me re-plot our course," the Andromedan was pleading. "I know how to get to her; I can save her!"

"We can't change course just because of an impulse," Goddard finally blurted out, making Radu wince. "Oh, I don't know. You're Andromedan with a sense of direction so maybe you're right. But…" he paused in discomfort. "We'd be speeding defenseless into Spung territory. We'd be captured and then we'd all die."

"Sir…" Radu hesitated, knowing that his story was already quite irrational. "I felt Elmira in that message. There was no sense of doubt when she begged me to help her. Maybe… maybe she's in a place where her father has no influence."

Goddard considered his student's words. He didn't trust the Spung but he did trust Elmira. And he trusted Radu. "Alright," he said finally. "Just as long as we keep a safe distance away, until we know we're not in danger and hyperjump if we are."

If the situation had been less serious, the crew might have lionized Radu for getting them out of class that day. Instead they stood, stony at their consoles, listening to Radu's dictations.

Finally, after an hour of coasting through the void of space, Rosie's console started beeping. "I'm picking something up," she announced nervously. "It's… it's a killcruiser."

"Elmira's there." Radu spoke through his vision, the words barely registering in his head.

Sure enough a bright green killcruiser appeared on the view screen.

"Stop the ship Mr. Band," Goddard said urgently. "We're not going forward without more information."

He was about to order the pilot to magnify the view when Rosie looked up, uncertain. "We're receiving a telecast."

"Please play it!" Radu pleaded. Elmira's there, I know it. She wouldn't lead us into danger."

Goddard hesitated. Everything he learned as a STARDOG fighting in the war told him to take no chance with the Spung. "When with Spung, act like a Uraisian," One of his commanding officers had said. Yet every encounter the crew had with Elmira via Radu had turned out to be a success in saving one of their lives. This wasn't the war anymore; it was a journey home with five space cases manning the ship and learning along with their teachers. The rules had changed.

"Play it," Goddard finally decided. "Give it five seconds and if it's not friendly we're out of here. Suzee, ready the engines for a hyperjump. Shields up, Mr. Bova, and keep a lookout for laser fire."

"Yes sir," Bova and Suzee said simultaneously while Rosie clicked on the message.

An automated colorful screen appeared, accompanied by pleasant music. "The Ka'ar Space Station," a computerized voice droned. "Built from a battleship: symbolizing intercultural harmony. Dock onto this former weapon of war to trade and learn from the multitude of cultures that call this station their second home. And now a word from our founder, former Warlord Kzar!"

The screen went blank for a second while the telecast switched from the automated welcome to the insides of the station. Standing among several different aliens, coming and going with ease, was a male Spung.

But he did not look like a Warlord. His demeanor was proud, but respectful. He did not make one move to capture the unknown aliens in the name of the Spung Empire.

"'Warlord' is my title with my people," the Spung began, "but my people believe in blind prejudice and war. I stand before you as an equal, friends, to share my inheritance not in the name of the Spung Empire but in the name of all the cultures of the universe! Please accept my invitation to come aboard and trade in peace." The screen switched back to the former view and the computerized voice started recounting all of the positive reviews given to the space station.

"Turn it off," Goddard said quietly. When the view screen went blank, all turned to look at the commander.

Goddard was heavily weighed down by thoughts. This could be a trick to lure us in, he realized. Yet something about a killcruiser trading station sounds familiar… Finally he spoke. "Send an audio message, requesting to speak with this Kzar," he told Rosie. "And magnify the view screen so we can see the docking bays. If this is a space station, it will be loaded with a diversity of ships. And keep alert, Suzee, Bova."

"We're receiving a visual reply," Rosie reported ten minutes later. They had seen the magnified view of the killcruiser and indeed several strange vessels were docked, or flocking in.

When the screen clicked on, the same Spung from the telecast greeted them. "Greetings friends," he said warmly, eyes sweeping over the crew. No one missed his wince upon seeing Radu.

"My name is Commander Seth Goddard, member of the United Populated Planets."

A more perceptible wince. "United Populated Planets," he mummered while pondering Elmira said something about the UPP in her delusions…

"We are here to see Serola Elmira. Is she in your care?"

Kzar's cheerful act had now failed completely. "Serola Elmira is my niece," he said flatly. "She has been entrusted to me while her father travels to the Council. She… she contracted the Dreaded Disease."

"Dreaded Disease?" Radu whispered in horror.

"Yes. We hear it is similar to an Earther disease. 'Reptilian' I found out. It spreads like fire and kills all that it touches."

"Well not us," Harlan said and sighed in relief, much at the wrong time. "Humans, Rigelians and Andromedans are mammals, not reptiles like the Spung. On Earth reptiles died out a century ago, due to the heat of the diminishing ozone. Our temperatures are very different so it's less probable that we'll catch the Disease."

Davenport, standing next to Bova, cocked her eyebrows in disbelief, wondering how an failing space case was suddenly so knowledgeable, and then remembered a recent test she gave on terrestrial science.

Kzar's face went ecstatic. "You can help her then! Take her onto your ship and cure her without getting sick! As we all know, the UPP has better medical databases than the Spung anyway. And she spoke of a group from the UPP and an Andromedan named Radu!"

All eyes turned to Radu as he felt chills go down his spine.

"I cannot promise you anything," Goddard said quickly before Radu could beg for clearance to dock. You've checked out his killcruiser, talked to the guy; he sure doesn't sound Spung. Shank would never revert to saying our databases were better than theirs, even to catch us. What now? "Let me check my ship's InfoCore for your UPP file to see if you're telling the truth," Goddard finally decided. "When I'm sure of your identity, we'll talk about docking."

Kzar nodded in understanding. "When you've confirmed all your doubts, come to Docking Bay 24. I'll have it vacant for you." The link was broken and Kzar disappeared.

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