The Admiral and the Assistant

The bridge of the ISS Swordheart waited in tense silence. On the bridge monitor, the boneship floated quietly, its spherical form marred by an arc sliced from one side.

"Lieutenant?" Admiral Stonefist said.

"Scans are nearly complete, Admiral," Lieutenant Renning replied.

Everyone waited impatiently. So much sacrifice, so many lost; had it all been worth it?

"No sign of reactance from the boneship, Admiral," Lieutenant Renning said in a loud, clear voice.

The bridge erupted in cheers and celebration. Tension melted from Grimthorn's shoulders, and he grabbed the railing of the captain's dais.

"Notify the rest of the fleet," he said. "The Feeder boneship is no longer a threat." He let out a long sigh of relief. "We've saved the Imperium."

Lieutenant Renning joyfully did as instructed while the bridge crew babbled in happy relief.

Grimthorn glanced over at the weapons console. Kinnit was crumpled on the ground in front of the console, sobbing. He rushed to her, squatting down and laying a hand on her back.

"Kinnit, what's wrong?"

"Are my people okay?" she said, turning her tear-washed eyes up to him. "We stopped the Feeders, but how many Kobolds did they take?"

He pulled her into an awkward hug, holding her for a long moment. Then he stood and held out his hand.

"Let's go find out."

Flander pulled himself smoothly through the boneship, his many arms pulling him swiftly along. The temperature had fallen off sharply in the hours since the reactor had been destroyed, and only his most sensitive instruments could detect that the faintest remnant, the hint that the boneship had ever been anything but cold and dead. In a few hours more, it would be perfectly still.

Flander fretted as he moved through the ship. His greatest fear had always been to be lost in space, drifting alone. Now he was traveling in a giant tomb, which was only slightly more comforting.

His scanners picked up another body. He'd been coming across dead Feeders fairly regularly. They were all frozen stiff, curled up in the agony of their final moments. He'd simply been stepping around them.

Flander twitched. This body had familiar data.

With renewed purpose, Flander followed the scan, traveling further to the edge, nearly to the surface of the ship.

There, lying wedged between two struts, was a dead Feeder. One with Terran DNA.

Fury rushed through Flander. How dare this traitor, this pathetic reprobate die anywhere but in Flander's claws? His gears shrieked his denied vengeance. His initial desire was to tear the corpse apart. His many claws opened and reached out.

As his decision matrix opened, several decision paths flowed across the surface of the loop that kept Unit 24601 imprisoned.

Flander paused.

He didn't have the processing Unit 24601 did. He was not smart. But that didn't mean he couldn't make his own decisions. He could choose his own path.

His arms folded back in toward his sphere. He settled next to the corpse, scanning it.

He wanted to tear it apart. But he wouldn't. Not because he didn't trust himself, but because he did. And that wasn't who he wanted to be.

Flander turned his sphere and scanned the stars, thinking.

Digger swooped down to the surface of Takkar, dropping through the sky. Grimthorn sat at the controls, managing the shuttle with a deft touch, his face set in a worried frown. Kinnit sat in one of the seats behind him, leaning forward, her eyes fixed on the portal at the front of the shuttle.

The utility shuttle touched down lightly and settled on its landing struts near Lookout Rock. Grimthorn quickly ran through the shutdown sequence, then opened the hatch.

As soon as it was open, Kinnit popped open her straps loose and hopped to her feet. She rushed out of the shuttle, Grimthorn following close behind her.

They made their way to her home cave. Kinnit buzzed with anxious energy as they ducked into the cool dimness.

It took a moment for their eyes to adjust.

"No," Kinnit said, hiccuping a sob. "Oh no!"

The cave was cold and empty. The fires were dead. They clearly had been for days.

"No, please," she said. She walked through the cave, trembling. Weapons and tools lay on the ground where they had been dropped. Empty firepits sat quiet and cold, without fuel.

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Unable to bear looking any more, Kinnit flung herself at Grimthorn, burying her face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh Grimthorn! My people! They took my people!"

He held her, but scanned their surrounding.

"Kinnit, hold on. There's no ash."

She pulled back and looked up at him, tears flowing.

"Remember the cleanup from Brolla? The Feeders left that ash everywhere. But there's no ash here."

Lips trembling, Kinnit tried to look around, but her eyes were too full to see clearly. She scrubbed at them with her sleeve, trying to see.

From the far back of the cave, in the silky darkness, she detected a movement.

"Ho?" she said, her voice wavering. "What's that?"

From the darkness crept a male Kobold, spear in hand, his pupils wide. Relief flooded Kinnit.

"Krundle?" she said. What are you doing back there?

"Kinnit Longlegs?" Krundle crept forward. "What are you doing here? Are the sky-eaters gone?"

Kinnit barked a sobbing laugh of relief and joy. She released Grimthorn and ran toward the hunter.

"Yes, they're gone! They're all gone, forever. I'm so glad you survived!"

Krundle nodded.

"Ho!" he shouted back over his shoulder. "It's safe! The sky-eaters are gone!"

Suddenly Kobolds boiled out of the back of the cave, sweeping into the living area. Kinnit screamed with joy and rushed into the mass of bodies.

"You're here!" she cried. "I was so scared I was the last Kobold!"

"We went into the Deep," Krundle said, shouting to be heard over the bustle and celebration of Kobolds returning home. "Deeper than anyone's been since we were spit out by Burrowbite!"

Kinnit laughed with joy, tears standing in her eyes.

"You hid from the Feeders!" she laughed. "You protected the Kobolds, Krundle Deepdelve!"

Krundle's face fell open in shock.

"A song! A song!" the rest of the Kobolds cried.

The Kobolds gathered to sing a new song, and to stamp a new legend in the stars.

The surface of Takkar was a bustling hive of activity over the next few weeks. It became an impromptu meeting place as various military and government officials came through to review and discuss what to do about the remains of the Feeders. The galaxy had been saved, and now the bureaucrats had to come in and have their say about the matter.

With permission from the Kobolds, some land was cleared and a few quick structures were thrown up for scientists and military researchers who wanted to study the remains of the boneship.

Elias emerged from one of the other Kobold caves, surrounded by thankful Kobolds. He was immediately swept into the Imperial facility and subjected to extensive questioning and study.

Admiral Stonefist and Lieutenant Kinnit were kept busy with after-action reports and interviews, fielding endless questions from scientists and xenobiologists.

After only a few days of this, Grimthorn was fed up with the ceaseless prodding and inquisition. He stormed out with Kinnit in tow, and began following up on work he knew to be more important than whatever a bunch of desk jockeys could come up with.

They were walking down the hallway, Admiral Stonefist's ominous glower parting the crowds before them.

"Oh!" Kinnit cried. "It's Minius! Captain Minius, hi!" She waved into the crowd.

Captain Minius stood out among the Naval administers in his rough, threadbare clothes. He waved uncertainly, as though trying not to draw attention to himself.

"Oh, hello," he said quietly. "It are the Admiral, just who I wanted to see." His voice was muted, uncertain, as he looked nervously at the crowd of pressed uniforms and brass buttons around him.

"Captain Minius," Grimthorn said, "good to see you well. What are you doing downplanet?"

"Ah... it are Flander," he said. He... are still aboard that boneship. I were wondering if we could... go fetch him here soon?"

Admiral Stonefist's nostrils flared, and his glare swept the hallway. The crowd of bureaucrats melted before his gaze.

"It's been a week since the battle," he said with dangerous quietness. "And nobody's fetched Flander?"

"Ah, I know he are just a robot, but I thought--"

"He is Navy." Grimthorn's voice rose, loud enough to be heard through the entire hallway. "That is not how we treat Navy." His jaw tightened. "Fortunately, I have a fleet and a squad of bored Marines handy. We will fetch Flander."

"Oh, that are very kind of you, Admiral."

"I have one errand to wrap up along the way. Please join me."

"Of course."

Admiral Stonefist swept down the hallway, Minius and Kinnit following. Kinnit smiled quietly as she watched her husband stomping over red tape.

They came to a sealed door. A young guardsman stood in front of it, watching Admiral Stonefist bear down on him like an asteroid screaming into the atmosphere.

"I'm here to fetch Elias Rhade," Admiral Stonefist said in a tone that was very clearly not a question.

"Ah, sir, Admiral sir," the Petty Officer stammered. "Um, I don't, I don't think you're on the list, sir, for entry."

"I didn't ask for entry. I said I'm here for Elias. Bring him to me."

"Um, um, I'll need to ask my superior officer."

"Certainly. And if there are any issues, you can ask your superior to explain why they're detaining an Imperial civilian in a government facility with no explanation or conviction."

The Petty Officer melted beneath the heat of Grimthorn's glare.

"I-- I'll go check, sir," he stammered, and scuttled away.

Grimthorn stood in the middle of the hallway, flanked by Minius and Kinnit. His arms were crossed, and he scowled at nothing, or perhaps just the entire world in general.

It took only a few minutes for an officious-looking bureaucrat to return, trailed by the unhappy-looking guardsman. The bureaucrat had her scanner out, already spinning through some documents.

"Admiral, I understand you may wish to see the precog," the bureaucrat began. "You're welcome to file for an appointment, which we will accommodate as early as--"

"He's not a 'precog.' He's a citizen. And you idiots have had him locked up for a week. That ends now."

She sniffed haughtily.

"Mr. Rhade is a valuable asset to the Imperium," she sneered. "He was able to warn the natives of the danger before--"

"He is not an asset!" Grimthorn barked, his commanding voice ricocheting off the walls. "He is a citizen, and you will release him!"

"Admiral this is very irregular; in matters of Imperial security--"

"Did you see the Emperor's last transmission?" Kinnit chirped, interrupting the bureaucrat before Grimthorn's temper broke. She turned to Grimthorn. "The one where he executed the entire Imperial Council for trying to remove the rights of citizens?" She laid a hand on Grimthorn's elbow. "When's our next meeting with the Emperor, dear?"

"I just-- I didn't mean we wouldn't--" the bureaucrat fumbled to a stop. "I'll-- I'll just go fetch him."

"Why don't you go do that?" Kinnit said brightly.

Elias Rhade wandered out a few minutes later. The bureaucrat peeked out into the hallway. She looked as though she wanted to ask Grimthorn to sign off on something, but her nerve broke and she faded back into the building.

"Hello," Elias said carefully. He was lean, almost rawboned now, wearing a green Imperial smock.

"Mr. Rhade, I am Admiral Stonefist, and this is my Assistant, Lieutenant Kinnit. We want to thank you for what you did for the Kobolds of Takkar."

"They heeded the warning," he said, his voice barely audible. "They were the only ones who listened."

"But you gave them the warning to listen to. The Imperial Navy would like to offer you free berth, anywhere in the galaxy you'd like to go." He glared around the hallway. It was mysteriously empty. "But first let's get out of here. The stench of busywork is already infesting this place."