The Juireans did honor Riyad’s surrender code, and seven hours after the conclusion of the battle, an armed shuttle secured itself to his airlock and a squad of heavily armed beings came aboard.
There were four Juireans and two other beings Riyad did not recognize. Once they were satisfied that Riyad and his five crewmembers were unarmed, they were all shackled and transported to the Juirean command ship.
A green-maned Juirean Guard stood stoically in the loading hanger, holding a datapad and scanning each prisoner as they went by with another hand-held device. Riyad’s crew exited first. They were scanned and then lead off to a section of the hanger some fifty meters away. The Guard then scanned Riyad, barely looking at him as he did so. Suddenly he looked up from his pad and eyed Riyad up and down. And then after tapping something into the pad, he called for several of the other guards to remove him from the hanger and take him to the holding cell — with the others.
And as Riyad was leaving the hanger, he chanced a glance back at his crewmembers — just as they were shot to death by the Juirean Guards…
The holding cell within the Juirean starship was simply at large stateroom with a segregated grooming area and a single bed. There were six guards armed with flash rifles in the corridor outside the room, and once they removed his shackles and shoved him in the room, they shut and secured the door behind him.
Inside the room was the last thing Riyad ever expected to see. Milling around near the center of the room, with a few sitting on the bed, were at least dozen or so Human beings! He was stunned. In the past seven years, he had only seen a total of four other humans — the three on the slave ship when he was first taken, and then Adam Cain. Now here was a whole soccer team worth of Humans.
And no one was paying him any special attention.
Riyad moved into the room and approached the first grouping of men. They stopped their conversation and turned to look at him with blank, emotionless expressions.
“Hello, my friends!” he said, taking the hand of the nearest man and shaking it vigorously. The man just let Riyad do it, with no return effort on his part. “I’m Riyad Tarazi. I am so glad to see so many of my fellow Humans.”
A tall, red-hair young man, looking to be about twenty-five or thirty stepped over to the group and pulled Riyad aside. He looked seriously into Riyad’s eyes. “I am Kyle Ross. I am the leader here. Who are you?”
“Like I said, I’m Riyad Tarazi. I’m from Lebanon originally, but I’ve been out here for almost seven years. How many other Humans are there in your group? Do you know the way back to Earth?”
Ross grabbed his arm, squeezing it tightly, and shoved him against the wall. Then leaning in closer, Ross said, “You are not of our group. You are a native. You are not supposed to be here.” His voice was a growl, and Riyad noticed several other men as they moved in around him.
“No, I am not one of you. I was with the Fringe Pirates who fought with you against the Juireans.” Riyad was growing nervous. These were other men, other Humans, so his strength advantage was gone. He would have to be careful.
“I was not aware there were any Humans with the pirates,” Ross stated as Riyad noticed him relax a little. “I apologize. It’s just that I know all the surviving Humans and you were not one of them. You could have been a spy for the Juirean scum.”
“I’m no fucking spy! I was the leader of the Fringe Pirates, and I sent my crews up to help you.”
Ross nodded, and several of the other men moved in closer still. “Now it begins to make more sense. We have noticed how much more effective the pirates have become over the past several years. Were you responsible for that?”
“Yes! Yes, I was!” Riyad figured he had to curry favor quickly with these other men before their suspicions and paranoia got the best of them. After the trauma of the battle, and the loss of their companions, Riyad figured they must all be on the edge and near the breaking point. “I have been in charge for the past five years or so. You know time is so hard to tell out here.”
Riyad watch as a puzzled look crossed Ross’s face, but then quickly vanished. “The Juireans will soon be coming to question us,” Ross stated. “You must not say anything about your relationship to us.”
“That’s fine. No problem.” Then in a whisper, “But where are the Klin? Did any of them survive, too?”
Several of the other men crushed in next to him, before Ross leaned in only a nose-length from Riyad. “You must not mention the Klin. I will do all the talking regarding them. Do you understand?”
Riyad just nodded quickly. It had been such a long time since he felt really outmatched, yet these hulking Humans looked serious — and unafraid. Again, he had to step very lightly around them.
Then as quickly as the conversation had started, it was over. The men turned their backs on him and returned to their original clusters or positions around the room, leaving Riyad pressed up against the wall, with more questions than when he’d first entered the room. These men were not normal. They showed no surprise at seeing another Human; on the contrary, they actually seemed upset that he was there. After having his pirate fleet completely crushed, then watching the battle turn abruptly in favor of the Juireans — and now this — Riyad was thinking this day couldn’t get any stranger.
He was wrong.
Riyad stationed himself near the grooming station and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, just watching. Kyle Ross was definitely the leader; all the other men paid him great respect when he approached and never engaged him in any back and forth dialog.
A couple of times throughout the two hours he sat there, Juirean guards entered and brought food and drink. The guards were armed, and Riyad could see how the thirteen Humans — plus himself — could have easily overpowered them and taken their weapons. As he played out the scenarios in his head, the former terrorist could see how it would be possible for a small number of vastly stronger, quicker and more durable Humans to take over the Juirean ship. Yet no one seemed to be even contemplating a plan.
Finally Riyad had had enough. He stood and approached Kyle Ross.
“Mr. Ross, may I have a word with you?” Riyad said politely, even though he was seething inside.
Ross turned slowly from his group and eyed Riyad up and down, again with a condescending air. The others in the group moved away.
When Ross didn’t speak, Riyad filled the silence. “I don’t know what the ultimate plan is here, but I’ve seen at least two occasions where we could have overpowered these guards and gotten the hell out of here. Do you have any plan at all, or are we just going to sit here and let the Juireans call the shots?”
Again, Ross did not immediately speak up. Then: “We are on the Juirean Fleet Commander’s flagship. We would not stand a chance if we attempted to escape-”
“Excuse me — but bullshit!” Riyad said. “I know for a fact that the fourteen of us are every bit the equal of a hundred Juireans. I don’t understand why we’re not doing anything.”
“You do not have to understand. You are not part of our group. You were not asked to interfere in the battle, and therefore you do not have any input.” Then he paused for effect before continuing. “You have lived a life among the aliens, and you are a native-born.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
Ross ignored his question and continued. “You have no concept as to the events you are attempting to influence. I respect the fact that you are a fellow Human being, but that fact will only allow you a certain latitude as to your presence here. Now once again, I will tell you not to interfere, and to let the events play out as they should.” Ross then turned on his heel and walked away.