Fighters of Danveyt

Russian science fiction novel [Boytsi Danveyta, Бойцы Данвейта(Russian)] , the third of the "Arrivals from the Dark" pentalogy by Mihail Ahmanov, preceded by "Invasion" and "Retaliation".

tory

The Void Wars are over, the alien Faata are defeated. A time of peace has arrived for the Earth Federation and its colonies. With most of the fleets disbanded and the ships mothballed, those looking to fight join the mercenary ranks of the Lo'ona Aeo, an enigmatic pseudo-humanoid race, too xenophobic to face their enemies in battle. However, the former Defenders of the Lo'ona Aeo called the Dromi return to exact vengeance on their former masters and their new servants. Since the Lo'ona Aeo no longer live on planets, they let their Defenders live on them. Sergey Valdez, whose great-grandfather was the legendary Paul Richard Corcoran, is the captain of a small three-man patrol ship, the "Lancelot", based on one such world - Danveyt.

The novel takes place about 180 years after the events described in "Retaliation". During this time, the Faata attempted to take back their colonies in the Orion Arm, now populated by humans, four times. Each time, the USF (United Space Forces) managed to defeat the attackers, losing many ships and soldiers in the process. Admiral Paul Richard Corcoran was killed when his ship was destroyed during the Second Void War. There were many civilian casualties during the first three wars, as the Faata were able to deploy ground troops in their former colonies. The Fourth War was fought in the Void between the Orion and Perseus Arms of the galaxy. Despite the efforts of the Faata, they were unable to defeat the humans, and the strain of the wars put them on the verge of the Third Eclipse (total collapse of civilization). With the Faata no longer a threat, the humans established themselves as a galactic power in the eyes of the other races. However, in the time of peace, the fleets were disbanded. Most of the veterans either could not afford to live on their small pension or were unaccustomed to peaceful life. As such, many signed up as the mercenary Defenders of the Lo'ona Aeo.

Not much is known about this pseudo-humanoid race, except that they are extremely xenophobic. They prefer to live in luxury and not have to worry about their safety. That is why they use their bio-robotic Servs to negotiate with other races for mercenaries. As the novel begins, no human has ever seen a Lo'ona Aeo. Before humans, the non-humanoid Dromi were the Defenders. When their contract ended, they refused to give up the space fortresses they occupied (the ships simply killed their Dromi crews and returned home). Obviously, the Dromi are not too happy about losing their "cushy" position and conduct raids on Lo'ona Aeo convoys for supplies.

During one such raid, Sergey Valdez's ship "Lancelot" receives the covoy's distress call and is able to destroy two of the attackers. Valdez and his crew then board the Dromi ship attached to a Lo'ona Aeo transport. They kill all Dromi, including those in the transport. They then open a strange container to find a female Lo'ona Aeo. Making sure she is all right, his crew leave, but the alien asks Valdez to stay. She thanks the human for the timely rescue and explains that she is on a trade mission, something on which the Lo'ona Aeo usually send the Servs. Valdez returns to his ship and asks that his crew not tell anyone about the female.

Several days later, on Danveyt, the Defenders are informed that an entire convoy has been wiped out by a massive Dromi attack, something that never happened before. A high-ranking ship commander known to most as "the Admiral" calls a meeting. Valdez and Cro are both invited. The Admiral outlines a plan to attack the nearest Dromi station-fortress nicknamed the Rathole. The station is protected by scores of ships, from small raiders to massive dreadnaughts, not to mention defense turrets and a nearly impenetrable shield. Since no Earth weapons or warships are allowed in Lo'ona Aeo space, the Defenders are forced to come up with a different way of breaching the station. The shield has to drop for a few seconds to let its ships launch. While it's down, three beyri, including the "Lancelot", will enter its acceleration shaft (used for interstellar travel) and destroy the power generator for the shield. They will then join the other ships' crews and take over the station from inside. To avoid heavy human casualties, Cro suggests sending in the illegally-smuggled UCRs (universal combat robots) before humans.

The first stage of the plan is successful, however one of the three beyri is too slow to make it to the shaft and is incinerated by the shield. Once the shield is disabled, the crews prepare to board the station and pay back the Dromi for the destroyed convoy. The takeover is successful, although many lives are lost in the process. The local Dromi leaders choose to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner, and the Fortress's AI is reactivated.

As a reward for their bravery, the crew of the "Lancelot" (along with the ship's AI and a UCR) is transferred to a new human-adapted beyri and attached to guard the Lo'ona Aeo female Zantu they rescued earlier. During the travels, Valdez becomes romantically involved with the alien woman, despite their genetic and physical incompatibility. Zantu is even able to overcome her natural fear of the human, as they both discover his latent telepathic abilities - a legacy of his great-grandfather. The alien uses her natural telepathic abilities to join with the human in ways much more intimate than a physical connection.

Zantu's travels take her to a Haptor planet. These violent humanoids are willing to trade an entire island for a Lo'ona Aeo terraforming device. At sunset, Valdez convinces Zantu to take a stroll around the island. This turns out to be a big mistake, as the next morning an armed squad of Haptors arrives and demands that the Defenders turn over the Lo'ona Aeo to them. Valdez refuses and threatens the soldiers with the UCR. The Defenders then return to the ship and prepare to leave the planet without the island. As they escape the Haptor attackers, the Servs send a signal deactivating the devices given to the humanoids.

After spending some time on Danveyt, Valdez is summoned by the Servs to a special room, which turns out to be a holo-communication device that can work over interstellar distances in real-time. Two of Zantu's parents give Valdez some background into Lo'ona Aeo genders and their eugenic rules. According to them, the reason Zantu was exiled was because, against the wishes of her extended family, she became a full female (able to bear children) instead of half-female (sterile). As such, she is exiled until she can no longer bear children (40 years total). They also offer Valdez and his crew a new contract under which they must protect Zantu until the end of her exile. In return, Zantu's family will pay off Valdez's family's debt to the bank and richly reward his crewmates. Since 32 years (Zantu has already "served" 8 years) is a lot for a human, Valdez tells the Lo'ona Aeo that he has to think about it.

Zantu's next trading mission takes the three Defenders back to the Solar system. On the way, Valdez explains the terms of the proposed contract to his gunners. As they are debating, Cro reminds them that under the terms of the Human-Lo'ona Aeo mercenary agreement, the officers of the USF can be recalled to active duty in the event of a major conflict. He then says that, according to a USF prognosis, Earth Federation will be in open conflict with the Dromi in no more than 8 years.

When the transport arrives to the Moon, Valdez takes a shuttle to visit his parents, siblings, and nephews on Earth and to bring them his mercenary payment to pay off a part of the debt. As Zantu's transport is preparing to depart, Valdez once again goes to her and shows her some of Earth's sights (virtually). Zantu then tells him something that shocks the Defender to the bone - she is pregnant with his child, something that should be impossible between a human and a Lo'ona Aeo, especially without intercourse. By speaking with Zantu and Cro (separately), Valdez figures out that the Lo'ona Aeo children only contain the mother's DNA. However, the gestation process cannot start until a male and a half-male telepathically join minds with the female. Due to Valdez's telepathic abilities, passed down from his half-human great-grandfather, by joining minds with Zantu, she was able to conceive.

The Lo'ona Aeo female explains to Valdez that her exile is now over, as there is no point anymore in trying to prevent her from getting pregnant. The happiness is short-lived, however, as the transport's long-range sensors detect a Haptor heavy raider, armed with an annihilator. The "Lancelot" and the other two escort ships are no match for the raider, and the transport is too slow to outrun the enemy. The Defenders' only hope is to fight off the Haptor boarding parties sent to capture Zantu.

Unwilling to let the Haptors approach the transport (and Zantu), Valdez orders the other two escors to stay close to the transport and accerates the "Lancelot" towards the raider. He tells the gunners to take out the enemy shield emitters before the two ships collide and then eject. Cro initially refuses to leave, but Valdez orders the "Lancelot" to eject his seat. The captain then says goodbye to the ship's computer and ejects moments before it rams the raider's annihilator section filled with anti-matter. He manages to glimpse as the two ships are engulfed in a matter/anti-matter explosion before the blast wave reaches his pod.

Valdez wakes up on a Lo'ona Aeo astroid designed to simulate the planet below it. Cro is sitting beside him, although his features are altered to resemble a Lo'ona Aeo. He explains that the human was caught in the blast wave and suffered severe burns, wounds, and broken bones. Since the Lo'ona Aeo medical technology is much more advanced, they brought the Defender to the astroid (after all, he risked his life to save one of their own). Cro tells Valdez that Zantu visited him while he was unconscious and asked him to remember her when he goes back to the woman he loves. The Defender then notices a falcon in the sky and finds out that the Lo'ona Aeo acquired them on Earth a century ago. Their population now numbers in the thousands. Valdez tells a Serv to ask his masters if the human can take a pair of the birds with him.

Characters

*Sergey Valdez - great-grandson of Admiral Paul Richard Corcoran. He avoids talking about his origins, as he would then have to explain his grandmother's and father's extremely long lives - the so-called Corcoran Curse. The Valdez family owns an artificial island in the Atlantic, which is expensive to maintain. That is why Valdez becomes a Lo'ona Aeo mercenary. Current posting: beyri (three-man patrol ship) "Lancelot". Position: captain. Assignment: patrol the Lo'ona Aeo Blue Zone and destroy all invaders, particularly the Dromi. So far, only limited telepathic abilities have been manifested by Valdez.
*Cro Lightwater - prefers the nickname "Chief Light Water" in tribute to his Navajo origins. Originally served under Paul Richard Corcoran prior to and during the Void Wars. Lost several organs in the wars and had his arm replaced with a combat prosthetic. Current posting: beyri "Lancelot". Position: gunner. Assignment: patrol the Lo'ona Aeo Blue Zone and destroy all invaders, particularly the Dromi. Real name: unpronounceable, closest analogy - Exile. Previous name: Klaus Zibel. The real Cro was heavily wounded during a fight with the Faata and, eventually, died. Zibel, who pretended to be dead, put Cro in his own coffin and took his place. His species' shapeshifting abilities allowed him to modify his appearance to that of Cro. Since he is currently a gunner on the "Lancelot", it can be concluded that he was finally able to overcome his races' inability to kill.
*Zantu - an exiled Lo'ona Aeo, whose gender is closest to female (Lo'ona Aeo have four genders). Unlike others of her race, she spends her time travelling to other species' worlds and stations to trade (such tasks are usually performed by the expendable Servs). Her natural telepathic talents allow her to instantally recognize Cro for what he is, as the Lo'ona Aeo are familiar with the shapeshifters. Like other members of her species, Zantu is unable to face an alien. Her loneliness and attraction to Sergey Valdez cause her to overcome her xenophobia in his case.

Unfamiliar Terms

Certain terms have been defined on the first novel's article.

*Hypnoglyph - at first glance (figuratively speaking), hypnoglyphs are common-looking objects. However, through means unknown to all but the Lo'ona Aeo, they instantly place any humanoids looking at it into a trance-like state. In this state, all decision-making functions are "disabled", and the target will truthfully answer any question put to him or her. These objects are dangerous, as the target is unable to perform certain vital functions, such as eating and drinking.
*Beyri - three-man patrol ships given by the Lo'ona Aeo to their Defenders. The crew usually consists of a captain and two gunners. Equipped with an AI capable of learning and adapting to the crew. Can be armed with 2-4 projectile cannons capable of penetrating enemy shields (the only projectile weapons known to do so) and do massive damage to the hull.
*Freezer - type of hand-held weapons provided to the Defenders by the Lo'ona Aeo. They fire a burst of energy which, when it reaches a certain distance, collapses to crease a tiny black hole for an instant. This causes everything within a certain radius to lose a large amount of heat, usually killing unprotected living beings. Can vary from a version worn on a wrist to one that looks and works like a machinegun.
*Molecular Scanner - device used by the Lo'ona Aeo to alter the size of an object. Used extensively for construction (only a small model of a ship is required to create a ship) and transportation (an entire island can be moved in a small cargo hold). Almost completely eliminates the need for natural resources, as only energy is required to operate the scanner.
*Astroid - large artificial space construct partially simulating a planetary surface. Hundreds of thousands of them (if not millions) have been built by the Lo'ona Aeo to allow their race to no longer inhabit planets. Each astroid houses an extended family of hundreds. Most astroids orbit former Lo'ona Aeo planets.
*Ertsa - non-addictive substance used by Lo'ona Aeo when they are forced to face an alien. It temporarily reduces the terror of such an encounter, although distance must still be maintained. In large quantities can cause a coma-like state and death.
*Faata Torri - Faata term, closest translation - "with a drop of Faata". The term refers to a possible hybrid of a Faata with another humanoid race. The only known human-Faata hybrids are those of Paul Richard Corcoran's bloodline.

Timeline

"This is the official timeline included at the end of the book."

Trivia

*Accorting to Zantu, long ago, powerful beings known only as the Masters of Emptiness set out to create the strongest race. Each created a race they believed would prevail. Thus, many aggressive species were created, including the Daskins, Dromi, Haptors, Silmarri, and humans. They were all placed on one planet and left to destroy each other. In the end, one race managed to exterminate all others - the humans. The victorious Master was proud of creating the strongest race, but the others disagreed. They went to different parts of the galaxy and continued their attempts to best him. The Lo'ona Aeo claim that this story is true, but others are skeptical and assume it to be nothing more than a fairy tale.
*While Earth and its colonies are officially known as the Earth Federation, the nation-states of Earth still exist and maintain a degree of autonomy.
*Only two races maintain diplomatic relations with the humans: the Lo'ona Aeo and the Kni'lina. Most races tend to be distrustful of others (with good reason).