Pax Galactica - A Space Opera

Chapter 22 - The Carrot and the Stick

Decker, Aranarth and Huayi/Eeeek met up with Jeeke/Gyeee back at the prison and filled him in on the situation. Jeeke/Gyeee thought they should get in contact with A.R.C. immediately but Aranarth wanted to interrogate the surviving prisoner first.

"I do not believe the prisoner will be forthcoming when you speak with him," said Jeeke/Gyeee. "Couldn't you read his mind?"

The group was walking briskly through the same familiar hallways as before. Decker could still smell the ozone from the fire fight.

"Well, no," said Aranarth. "Aside from it being illegal under Cooperative law, and we're technically still citizens of the Three Rings so we try to avoid it, every species requires its own specialized mind reading technology. A human mind reader won't be able to make sense of a gug-gug-gug mind, or a xalaxian one for that matter. We can read the minds of a number of different species but gug-gug-gugs are not among them."

"This is understandable and disappointing simultaneously," said Jeeke/Gyeee.

"Don't worry, you don't need a mind reader," said Aranarth. "You have me, the biggest beansplitter in the Corps."

Decker couldn't argue with that.

"Your forth to last word did not properly translate," said Jeeke/Gyeee.

"It's a derogatory reference to part of the human anatomy," said Huayi/Eeeek. "Used in this way it expresses that Ranger Aranarth is possessed of an unpleasant temperment."

"That was surprisingly accurate," said Aranarth, grinning.

"I am an acknowledged expert on humans," said Huayi/Eeeek, without a hint of modesty.

"I understand," said Jeeke/Gyeee. "Our people have similar language taboos."

They arrived at the scene of the battle. Several xalaxian drones were still cleaning up the bodies. Decker swallowed again.

A shimmering transparent force-field had been patched over the hole that led directly outside the prison, but otherwise the walls were still in ruin.

The door's iris opened in all directions and the group stepped into the prison cell. It was the cell directly beside the one that Long Shadow agents had blasted their way into. Dead center was a prisoner's virtuality frame that had been modified for a gug-gug-gug. There was room on it for two prisoners but this one only contained one.

Gug-gug-gugs couldn't really sit or lay down so the frame held the prisoner up in a low-stress standing position. Clamps held it's legs in position and a heavy-duty thought projector sat on its head like a crown. All three eyes were tightly closed and it had a look of mild contentment on its face.

"Bring 'im out," said Aranarth.

Jeeke/Gyeee inserted a key into the side of the frame and turned it. It chirped in the affirmative.

The clamps released at once. Ever so slowly the prisoner's eyes began to struggle open.

The gug-gug-gug grunted.

"Is the war over?" he asked in his own language.

"No," sneered Jeeke/Gyeee. He wore an external translator on the side of his head that rendered his low xalaxian as gug-gug-gug.

Decker had never seen hatred from a xalaxian before but he was pretty sure that was it.

"We're going to have a nice talk," said Aranarth, through a far superior autotranslator integrated into his body, "and you're going to tell me some things I want to know."

"Don't waste my time with empty, meaningless, insincere threats, human. What will you do to me? Your people lack the will for torture. You coddle your enemies. This 'prison' I am being kept in is nicer, better, preferable to my personal habitat."

"I'm sure it is," said Aranarth. "It's intended to be that way. The purpose of this prison is to remove you as an asset of the enemy, not to punish you. Comfort is a design goal. We've never used one of these on a gug-gug-gug before, though, so thanks for letting me know it's working as intended."

"What is your point?"

"My point is my point. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. We have no interest in making you uncomfortable. Although you probably shouldn't be so smug about that assumption. There should be a library of information about human history available in your virtuality. You should look into some of our behavior prior to the singularity event when you get back. It might give you some insight into just what my species is capable of."

The gug-gug-gug showed his lower teeth, which was their equivalent of a short, dismissive laugh.

"I'll have to look up what that one means that's a new one for me," said Aranarth. "Your people have such rich body language I love it. So as you pointed out I can't really threaten you, not with anything worse than what your benefactors would do to you if you betrayed them to us. I can't even imagine how terrible that would be but I'm sure it was made abundantly clear to you. So I'm giving you a choice: tell me what I want to know, or I let you go."

"Don't you mean 'tell you what you want to know AND you'll let me go'? You hinny, honk, bray our language like a fli-fli-fli."

"No I chose my words very carefully," said Aranarth. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll let you stay here in our plush prison to wait out the war in luxury. Then, when it's over, we'll repatriate you back to your people. This becomes a fun vacation for you. Alternatively, if you don't give me the information I need, I'll let you go. That's going to make a lot of people start to wonder what you told us to get such preferential treatment, now, won't it? They'll probably read your mind first just to be sure, I've heard the Old One mind-reading tech isn't the most pleasant, but even when they see you're innocent they'll never believe we didn't just alter your memories. Because that's what they would do. I imagine that's when things would get really ugly."

The gug-gug-gug made two quick jumps so as to regard Aranarth with both of its other eyes.

"Hey that one I know," said Aranarth, pointing. "You're going to have to make your decision quick, though. If you're not willing to cooperate we're not putting you back in. Oh, by the way, I don't know if they told you but Long Shadow agents assassinated the other two gug-gug-gug prisoners. There's an active cell on this planet."

"I'll cooperate, collaborate, capitulate!" said the gug-gug-gug. "Immediately, unreservedly and unqualified. I will tell you anything you want to know, anything I know is yours."

"I know you will," said Aranarth. "I already told you that."

* * *

"I have never been more impressed by anything in my life," said Jeeke/Gyeee as soon as the door to the cell shut behind them.

Decker couldn't agree more, but he would never tell Aranarth that.

The prisoner was comfortably back in his virtuality, already reading up on the ancient history of the human species.

"Don't be too impressed," said Aranarth. "He didn't give us much."

"He gave you what he had to give," said Huayi/Eeeek. "I, too, admire your masterful technique. Your Ranger Corps has well earned its reputation."

"I guess there's nothing left to do but head back to the Overdog and fatline the sprellhead factory," said Aranarth.

"Your second to last word did not properly translate," said Jeeke/Gyeee.