CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Time passes slowly in the hospital ward. I have to stay on my back most of the time to keep the pain in my head from coming back, so I can’t do much of anything. Tanna did bring me a trashy romance story to read, which is about all I can do when I’m not thinking about the mission, but it’s difficult to really get into it when Sen keeps coming by and asking me if the girl in the story has killed her man yet.
I spend most of my time watching Sen’s caregiver techs working. While growing up, I spent a lot of time with Mother in the Academy Hospital, so I’ve seen a lot of things. The really traumatic injuries were always difficult to watch, but she insisted that I needed to understand how badly folk can get hurt, especially if I want to be a captain someday. Someday those folk that get hurt could be directly because of choices I make.
The hospital ward on the ship isn’t as busy as the hospital always was, but that’s because no one’s outside fighting right now. Cap’s group is still in the Palace and no one else has left the ship. Simon’s kept up squad training, though, so I occasionally have something to watch when someone is brought in with a training injury.
Most of the injuries are superficial, like my wounded shoulder was the other day, and only need some cream or ointment. These smaller first-aid cases are easy to resolve in a few minutes. A couple of cases during my day in bed are a little more difficult than that, though.
One elf is carried in with a broken leg. A larger dwarf had fallen on him during a training exercise. The bottom bone was obviously snapped, as the foot stretches unnaturally to the side. That will require a little more than ointment, so Sen and a dwarf tech that works with her prepare to set the bone with magic.
Half of medicine is alchemical and uses ointments, potions, and other means of transferring the healing properties of plants and animals to the patient. The other half of the science is careful magical rituals. Every caregiver is an adept who trains for years learning those spells and rituals, knowing how to perform them quickly and which times to use them. Since some of these situations are emergencies that could save a life, each ship hospital ward contains its own large mana battery which only caregivers and techs can use.
Sen and the tech first lay the elf out on a bed, then carefully twist the leg back to straight. That causes the elf to scream in pain, but there’s not much that can be done about that. Once the leg is lying out properly, the dwarf brings a potion to the elf. He drinks it, and the dwarf tech pushes him to lie back down. After a few seconds, the elf goes rigid, paralyzed and numb from the potion.
Once he stops moving, Sen places some runestones around his leg and begins chanting while laying her hands on the injured leg. When Sen completes the spell, the leg appears to be back to normal, but I know it’s not 100% usable yet and needs to rest while the body fixes it the rest of the way. Mother had to do this to my arm once when I was little and attacked by a near-wolf in the forest around our home.
The dwarf tech brings her a large stone boot, which they strap around the elf’s leg so he can’t move it. Once the boot is on, the dwarf pours a small bit of another potion into the elf’s mouth, which slowly undoes the paralysis and numbing. An hour or so passes as the elf slowly wakes up and comes back to reality.
I’m always fascinated by watching my staff do their jobs, but watching Sen is a little different because of all the comparisons to Mother. It’s easy to see a lot of Mother’s training in Sen’s work. She’s very fluid moving from task to task, quick to diagnose the correct problem, and good at providing the proper solution. Really, the only time she doesn’t seem like a normal caregiver is with her bedside manner.
Sen has a weird habit of walking past all of the beds and pinching everyone. She calls it ‘bed check’ and insists that it’s just to make sure we’re all still alive. Most of the time, we’re obviously awake and sometimes even talking to her, but still she pinches.
I watched as one dwarf, who had been in a bed since before I woke up, kept complaining about being in pain and needing another day here. In response, Sen poured a mug of water on his face. When he sputtered and sat up cursing, she shrugged and said that he was obviously doing better, so he should go now.
The worst part of watching things like that is knowing that something worse than pinching or a mug of water could easily happen to me if I stay in the hospital ward for too long.
Eventually, Lieutenant Bellas comes over. “Caregiver Foulmuck says you’re allowed to leave. Technically, those weren’t the words she used, but I’m paraphrasing.” He smiles and puts out a hand. I take it and lift myself off the bed.
Standing again for the first time in two days sucks, but I’ll shake it off. “Thanks, Lieutenant. I’ll bet you never knew you’d be learning such valuable diplomatic skills working in the hospital ward.”
He grins and shrugs. “The caregiver’s weird, but she’s a good mentor. She’s just a goblin, ya know? Goblins will be goblins!” He salutes and walks off, leaving me to find my own way out.
I start walking to my quarters while thinking about that. Goblins will be goblins? Will they really? After meeting the Admiral, then Kesn Dreadthief, then Rosa… I’m not so sure anymore. I never thought something like Stenchstone was possible, but these goblins really aren’t like the ones we’re all used to.
Well, some of them are, or we wouldn’t have been hijacked to bring illegal spellshooters to a gang of assassins that killed my Ambassador and still have other plans we don’t know about. I really need to go talk to LC Darkmuck and get some answers.
I run my fingers through my hair, which I’m sure is a mess and tangled and nasty, but answers come before getting clean. On level 5, I change direction and walk to Cap’s office since I know it’s empty right now. I open the door and enter, walk behind his desk and log into his terminal. A few commands later and I see that the LC is staying in Guest Officer Quarters A just a few doors down from my quarters.
Leaving the office, I continue the walk up to the next level and stop in front of the door for the guest quarters. I touch the charm and prepare to wait, but only a few seconds passes before the door fades out and I see the LC standing there.
He snaps into a salute. “Commander! I’m glad you’re okay! Please come inside!”
I return the salute and walk in. “Thank you, LC. I’m feeling a lot better after a couple days of rest. Sorry for keeping you away from your job for so long.”
He grins. “Are you kidding? These quarters are almost nicer than my rooms at home, especially since I don’t have to share them with my younger siblings! If it wasn’t for the circumstances, it would almost seem like a vacation.”
I chuckle. It’s good to know not everything about Stenchstone is different from regular goblin culture. Goblin families live together for generations until one side of the family gets too big for the space and has to find a new house. It’s not uncommon for a single house to have four generations of goblins in it.
I gesture to the table in the room. “Sorry to take you from your vacation, LC, but we really do need to talk about those circumstances.”
His shoulders slump slightly, but then he straightens up as he looks me over. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to clean yourself first, ma’am? You can use my washroom if you don’t want to go all the way to your quarters and back.”
That’s interesting. I think he’s trying to deflect the conversation. All the more reason to have it now. I shake my head and take a seat. “Thank you for the offer, but some things are more important. I’m sure you understand that.”
He sighs and takes a seat across from me. “Yes, ma’am.”
I set my hands on the table and clasp them, placing my elbows on the chair arms. “LC, you know who the Black Tongues are, and the prisoner said that you are ‘family’ to them. I think you’ve come up with an answer to my question from before, so I’ll ask it again: Do you know who would use your name and claim that you attempted to assassina
te King Damnation?”
He nods. “Yes, ma’am. I do know, but they’re all supposed to be dead. The Black Tongues aren’t supposed to still exist, and the ‘family’ should be gone as well. Let me explain.
“Before ‘the last goblin king’ – that’s what we call the terrible king before His Excellency took the crown – before he was killed, the folk of Stenchstone had to deal with the tyranny of multiple gangs. The worst of these was The Black Tongues. They controlled everything and had members in every place you can imagine. The higher-ranking members of the gang, and the ones given high positions in society, were called ‘the family’. It’s said that ‘the last goblin king’ was a member of ‘the family’, but no one can prove it.
“But ‘the family’ didn’t just contain those folk directly working for the gang. They called it a ‘family’ because it included the closest blood family of all members. Multiple Darkmucks were in the gang, and a couple of them were in ‘the family’, including my father. Therefore, I’m technically also in ‘the family’.
“When His Excellency killed ‘the last goblin king’, the Black Tongues went crazy and started a war with the throne. His Excellency culled all of the bad goblins from the Palace and rebuilt the staff with good folk. Over the next years, he worked outward across the city and destroyed all of the gang influence he could find.
“The Darkmucks who were in ‘the family’ were killed, or thought to have been killed, and the gang members were hunted by the enforcers. The last member of ‘the family’ was supposed to have been captured fifteen years ago – the previous Overseer, who had used his office to hide who he was while still working for the King.
“With no actual members of ‘the family’ remaining, and all of the gang influence destroyed, the Black Tongues should be gone. They shouldn’t exist.”
I’m nodding as I’m following his story, and I think I already know what the answer will be to my question. “But they do still exist, and they still say you’re in ‘the family’. If all of the real ‘family’ gang members are gone, why do they think you’re still in it?”
His head lowers, looking at the table. “There’s only one way, and it also explains why my name was used as the assassin. I’m still in ‘the family’ because at least one of the original Darkmuck ‘family’ members is still alive and running the Black Tongues. They used my name because they could blame that weapon shipment directly on me as well. They would have said that I used my position in the warehouse to cover ‘extra’ shipments of spellshooters which I supplied to the gang.”
I nod. “So we need to find whichever Darkmucks are still alive and working for the Black Tongues, figure out what they need the weapons for, and stop whatever it is they’re planning.”
The LC looks back up at me. “But they’re all supposed to be dead! We saw their bodies after the raid on their central planning operation! My father, my father’s father, my father’s brother and his wife, my father’s two sisters, and...”
I stop him. “Wait. Your father’s brother?”
He nods. “Yes. Grovr Darkmuck. He was a Lieutenant in the UCST, but deserted to do tactical planning for ‘the family’ along with the rest of my father’s side of the family.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Let me think… I’ll be 144 this year, and they died in my 80’s, so… 60-ish years?”
Dragons be damned. “Sixty years. More than enough time for a Lieutenant to become a Captain.”
The LC snaps to attention. “Captain? What? Are you saying my father’s brother is still alive and is a Captain now?”
I hold up a hand to stop him. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I met Captain Darkmuck when he brought the Admiral – I mean, His Excellency – onto the ship because of an ‘assassination attempt’. He told me you were his brother’s son and that I had to ‘take care of you’ because ‘that side of the family is stupid’. I guess what he really meant was that your side of the family wasn’t in the Black Tongues.”
He shakes his head violently. “That doesn’t make sense! Why would he be promoted to Captain? He’s a traitor and a killer!”
I start reasoning it through in my head, and let the thoughts fall out of my mouth as I go. “Captain Darkmuck is in the Intelligence office. There isn’t much information about Stenchstone since His Excellency took over as King. It’s possible that information about the Lieutenant’s desertion never actually made it back to the Admiralty, or was purposely hidden by Captain Darkmuck, allowing him to stay a Lieutenant when he got to Terra. He then used his position to cover up everything about Stenchstone, while also gaining in rank so he could eventually set up the Corsari to bring both the Admiral and a load of weapons back to Stenchstone.”
A look of shock appears on the LC’s face. “That… that sounds exactly like the kind of plan that ‘the family’ would put together for the Black Tongues. He must not have been killed. He must still be running the Black Tongues from Terra!”
I nod and stand. “Thank you, LC. If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep you here for now, and I need you to keep this information between us. I trust that you’re not involved, but I want to keep this information as closely guarded as possible. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get word to my Captain and His Excellency.”
I have to put together a report quickly and get it to Cap and the Admiral so they can inform the King of all of this. This can’t just stay in my hands any longer. I leave the LC’s guest quarters and walk toward mine while pulling my communicator out. I open my quarters, walk inside, and close the door before pressing the charm. “Tanna Aldamiel.”
Tanna’s head appears. “Glad to see you out of bed!”
I nod, but now’s not the time. “Tanna, do you have Ambassador Kesn Dreadthief’s com code?”