Ktal shivered. The Emperor would disown him for losing the precious duranium ore... unless Ktal brought home the miraculous solution to their extinction threat.
* * *
Trixie's heart sank when she saw the shimmering force field obstructing the corridor of the alien ship. “We can't go any further.” She turned to Tom. “You are the engineer. How do we disable the force field?”
Tom rubbed his chin and shook his dreadlocks. “I don't see any electronic panel in the corridor. This ship has no wiring. I'm not familiar with this kind of technology.”
Kostas smiled. “I have an idea.”
He pulled a grenade out of his pocket. “When everything else fails, blow it all to hell!”
Tom chuckled. “That might do it, but you don't want to be anywhere close when it blows.”
* * *
As much as he dreaded the meeting, Ktal had to inform the Imperial authority of Godda about the new developments. When Emperor Kobel appeared in his holographic form in the middle of his chambers, however, Ktal was not prepared for the change. The monarch's surroundings did not reflect the golden throne room. Gone was the pride, gone the high port of the head. Even the black robes looked dull... and even stained?
“My Lord Emperor, what happened to you?” Ktal genuflected, realizing the insolence of speaking first.
The holographic emperor did not seem to notice the affront. “Godda itself is under attack, dear nephew,” Emperor Kobel said in a less than assured voice. “My palace is not considered safe at this time.”
“The Reptoid scourge?” Ktal's blood rushed through his veins. How dare the filthy lizards... “How bad is it?”
“Our forces are regrouping to defend our home planet. But we suffered great losses. So did our enemy, however. We've lost most of our colonies, but our planetary defenses are still strong. We can still save Godda, but we'll need luck on our side.”
“Unfortunately, I have more bad news.” Ktal could not imagine the magnitude of the disaster that would break his proud uncle. “The Human workers of Kassouk have proved intractable. They've destroyed the duranium mine, and the shipment exploded upon takeoff.” Ktal didn't mention it was due to enforcer's error.
Emperor Kobel's shoulders sagged. “It doesn't matter anymore. All our barges were captured anyway.”
“Really?” Ktal couldn't fathom the loss. “What about our women?”
“In great danger at this time, nephew, but we are still hoping to protect them.”
“If it will help, I have one shred of good news.” Ktal felt guilty about his small victory in the face of so much destruction. “I bring home the solution to our failed breeding program... a Human clone who can procreate.”
The tired eyes widened in surprise, but the news did not bring a smile to the sad imperial face. “After all these decades?”
“To think that these simple Humans possessed the answer all along boggles the mind.” Ktal rejoiced at the idea of saving his race.
“I laud your discovery, nephew. Hurry home with it, but watch out for Reptoid ambushes.” The Emperor's lips pressed into a thin line.
“What about the weather satellites?” Ktal now wanted to return home and help his kind. “Should I shut them down, get rid of this rebellious Human population?”
“No.” The Emperor's onyx stare seemed lost into another dimension. “If they are as prolific as you say they are, they might be useful in other ways... give them a living chance.”
Ktal couldn't help a frown. “Really, My Lord Emperor? Why?”
“If we survive this coming battle,” Emperor Kobel had a sarcastic chuckle. “It will take us at least a century to recover from this war. By then, after several generations, the Humans of Kassouk will have forgotten their roots, their technology, their culture.”
“I see...” but Ktal really didn't.
“By the time we are ready to reopen the mines, they will be ripe for proper service to the Godds.” The emperor paused. “Besides, if your new cloning discovery does not bear the right fruit, we might attempt a direct cross-breeding program...”
“Cross-breeding? With Humans?” Ktal abstained from expressing his many scientific objections to such a desperate answer to their reproductive problem. Instead, he bowed deeply to his sovereign. “I will do as you order, My Lord Emperor.”
After the hologram vanished, confident in the knowledge that the Human team on board was contained, Ktal initiated the sequence to leave orbit. Once in jump space, safe from Reptoid attacks, he would initiate an automatic retrieval of the precious specimens and dispose of the undesirable.
The ship shuddered as the jump engines warmed. Warning lights lit up on the console, but not for the departure. Intruder alert! The signal had originated from Kuhr's private office... next door.
Had the Human team broken through the force field? Was Kuhr in danger?
The iris door opened upon Kuhr, blood marring his golden skin and blending with the crimson of his robe. Despite ghastly head wounds, he looked more distraught than hurt. Ktal's Goddian friend swayed three steps through the door and fell face down, bloodying the white, immaculate floor of the private chambers.
Ktal rushed to his friend, unable to imagine the repercussions of such a tragedy. “What happened?”
Kuhr's last sigh died on his lips. By the amount of blood, Ktal realized even the regeneration chamber couldn't save his life. So, he closed his friend's eyes and let his tears flow.
“Step away from him!” The clone marched in, with his woman, both armed with low-tech pulse rifles.
Ktal did not move. A terrible feeling of loss wrenched his chest.
Three Human males in military gear rushed in, out of breath.
The clone motioned to Ktal with his rifle. “Move! And stay away from that console.”
Despite his loathing and deep sorrow at such a horrible act of violence, Ktal couldn't strike back at the precious clone and his mate. “What have you done?”
Chapter Twenty
Trixie considered the Goddian Prince, bent over the body of his friend on the white spongy floor. Ktal looked so upset that he seemed oblivious to the armed Humans around him. As if he didn't care about defending himself or his ship. Trixie realized his kind must not be accustomed to witnessing the death of their own people.
“Sorry about your friend,” she said, sincere in her empathy. She hadn't killed Kuhr, Kostas had. “He sounded the alarm and would certainly have killed us.”
“No. You do not understand.” Ktal sighed, or sobbed, she couldn't tell as his voice trembled. “We Godds live for many centuries. Terminating such a life on a whim is simply inconceivable.”
Taken aback, Trixie realized that Ktal and Kuhr must have been friends for many decades... possibly centuries.
“Besides, he wouldn't have harmed you.” Ktal rose slowly and straightened his tall frame. “He was a gentle soul and knew how precious you are.”
“You expect me to believe that you respect Human life?” Trixie scoffed. “After what your enforcers did to us?”
“Enforcers are beasts, a necessary evil in desperate times. Neither Kuhr or I would ever have hurt you... or him.” Ktal pointed with his chin at Kostas. “Both of you are very special to us.”
A nagging feeling stirred inside Trixie's gut. “Special how?”
“You are pregnant with his seed.” The odd statement hung in the sweet recycled air.
Kostas' face registered shock as he cast an accusing glance at Trixie.
“I'm pregnant?” Trixie wondered about Ktal's sanity. Clones could not conceive. Yet a few inexplicable reactions to food recently could be interpreted as morning sickness. But it was probably a trick, a diversion. “It's impossible.”
Ktal had a wistful smile. “Why do you think we took particular care of you in the mine?”
Trixie suddenly remembered the other two women in the recovery room. Pregnant women? She also remembered her comatose dream of a family with Kostas.
As Ktal edged his way
toward the console, something caught Trixie's eye outside the porthole behind him. Something floated in space between the ship and the planet below. Her blood left her extremities as she recognized the blue cashmere robe and the long frame of McLure.
She screamed.
“Fire! Now!” Kostas shouted.
The entire team aimed and fired upon Ktal, but his shimmering phase shield went up and the pulses didn't affect him. Ktal walked to the console, ignoring the weapon fire. Trixie couldn't move away, rooted in place. She realized that Kostas, too, was imprisoned, like her, in a force field.
“Blow him all to hell!” Kostas ordered, his voice muffled by the force field.
Tabor plucked a grenade from his belt, rolled it toward Ktal and the three garrison officers ran out the closing iris door, leaving Trixie and Kostas in the room with Ktal.
The explosion tossed Ktal like a celluloid doll toward the ceiling of the chamber. Imprisoned in her force field, Trixie hardly felt the jolt. She saw Kostas still on his feet, also protected from the blast. Then all the fields shimmered then collapsed at once, including Ktal's shield.
Still, the Goddian prince rose to his feet and brushed his many fingers over the console's command, stern determination tensing his face. “Fertile clone or not, you will not get away with this!”
Both Trixie and Kostas aimed and fired their pulse rifles at the unprotected Godd.
Ktal froze and stared at them his aqua eyes wide with surprise. His turquoise robe filled with the blood rushing out of the black stains on his chest. He smiled faintly. Trixie had the feeling that he didn't want to live anyway. How sad.
The chamber fell silent, except for small beeping sounds trickling softly from the bulkheads.
The iris door opened and Tom reappeared, his dark face gray in the bright light. “Are you all right? We have to get out, now. That beep is a countdown! Could be a self-destruct.”
“Wraith!” Of course, even a suicidal Godd wouldn't leave advanced technology in the hands of lowly Humans. Trixie's blood rushed. She bolted out the iris door, then along the white corridor, toward the shuttle bay.
The last words of their enemy still rang in her ears. Fertile clone... She couldn't believe it. Ahead of her, Tabor, Cheng, and Tom ran, their steps muffled by the spongy flooring. Behind her, Kostas closed the line. The faint beeps and the running steps matched the pace of her runaway heart.
She reached the shuttle bay out of breath and rushed into the bubble, where the others already settled in their seats. Kostas jumped in after her and closed the hatch. The vehicle started moving through the opening bay door, then through the rainbow shields.
“Are we safe now?” Trixie asked Tom.
Tom shook his dreadlocks, eyes wide and white under his red beret. “No, Captain. The ship's computer is guiding the shuttle's trajectory. If the ship explodes before we land, chances are we'll explode too... that, or we'll crash and burn.”
“Wraith!” Charming possibilities. “Do we have any idea how much time remains on that count down?”
Tom shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, Captain.”
“Are you sure it's a self-destruct sequence?” Trixie couldn't imagine destroying such a marvel of technology... and possibly their only way back home… although, where would that be?
“If I'm wrong, we can always return to the ship later, Captain.” Tom's eyes rolled. “When we figure it's safe.”
“Right.” Trixie still had hope. Hope she might one day see her family again, maybe reconcile with her dictator of a father... now that she'd learned how to say no.
As the shuttle descended, the details of the landscape below came into focus. Something looked different. “The enforcers' barge is gone!”
Kostas laughed. “By the Halls of Montezuma! Look!”
Trixie followed his pointing finger to the black smoldering debris littering the mountain slopes. “Well, at least we won't have to deal with the enforcers.”
The shuttle landed, hovering over the roof of the capitol. Under Tom's urgent prompting, they hurried outside, then down the stairs. Once in the middle of the cobbled esplanade, Trixie looked up to scrutinize the clear blue sky. “You see anything?”
Kostas pointed to the eastern sky. “There!”
Beyond the glare of the twin suns, Trixie could barely discern the silvery vessel in orbit, but she had no doubt Kostas could see it clearly. Then the Goddian ship exploded. Bright fireworks peppered the sky with pink and blue flares. In the same instant, the shuttle sitting on the roof in front of them burst into flames. The blast showered the esplanade with debris. Trixie ran for cover behind the low wall of the esplanade.
“Wraith!” she swore under her breath.
Her heart beat a frenzied tempo at the sight of Kostas crouching beside her, shielding her with his strong body as debris splashed into the fountain behind them. The acrid smell of smoke filled the air.
When it was over, she rose, glad to see the team safe. “At least we all made it in one piece.”
In the eerie calm that followed the explosions, Trixie heard a clamor of voices. The settlers were running toward them, up the converging streets, some excited, others visibly in shock. Quickly the settlers explained the EMP blast and the barge exploding on takeoff.
But all Trixie could think about was Ktal's last words... fertile clone. Her entire universe hinged on that statement. If she really was pregnant, it meant that Kostas was not a clone... or the unthinkable... this clone, and possibly all clones, could procreate. And if they could, they may also have a soul. But none of it made any sense.
* * *
Kostas couldn't imagine the consequences if Trixie carried his child. To avoid speculating, he spent the rest of the day in a desperate quest to salvage weapons, but he could not find a single one in working condition. Even the sanctuary cave, wide open as it was onto the gorge, had not protected that hoard from the EMP pulse. And since the high-tech weapons were made of polymer, crystal, and electronics, their melted remains weren't good for anything.
This community would really have to take a big step back... into the technology of Earth's middle ages.
In the euphoria of their newfound freedom, the settlers appropriated permanent quarters in the citadel, occupying a larger part of the fortified city. Kostas barely had a glimpse of Trixie, running back and forth in her efforts to reorganize the community. He wanted very much to ask her the question that seared his lips, but not in front of anyone else.
At the end of a frustrating day, and after a visit to the hot baths, Kostas returned to the gatehouse, happy to be home... where Viking waited for him.
The yellow cat, ensconced on the top bunk, considered him with honey eyes, licking his fur, as if happy life had returned to normal. He didn't seem quite as fat as before with his fur all cleaned. The fair weather, as well as exercise in the fresh air, might have contributed to his new leanness. The temperatures had taken a definite turn toward spring.
“Hey, buddy.”
Viking stared at Kostas from his perch.
Kostas spotted the offering of two large rodents, neatly deposited in front of the fireplace. “You expect me to skin and clean your meal?” Kostas chuckled and shook his head. “What am I? Your personal cook?”
The cat only sighed, like royalty expecting to be pampered. Of course, Viking was right. Kostas had made a deal. In exchange for the pelts, he would prepare the cat's meals.
“All right, then. A deal is a deal, as Trixie would say.” Kostas started a fire, skinned the rodents and set the meat on the grille to cook, while he stretched and stored the pelts to dry. He'd done it many times before. “Are you sure you are going to eat all that?”
Viking just mewed, as if he understood.
“I guess you have to make up for lean times.”
A knock sounded like a foot pounding the door. Kostas looked up from where he crouched by the fire. “Come in, it's open.”
“Can't. My hands are full.” Trixie?
He rushed to
open the door.
Trixie appeared in the doorway, carrying a cast iron pot by both handles. “Were you cooking? I smell meat.”
Kostas chuckled. “Not for myself, no. It's for my little buddy.”
“Oh! Hi, there.” Trixie glanced at Viking and stepped inside, closing the door with her foot. Then she deposited the pot on the grille above the fire. “When you didn't show up at the refectory, I decided to bring stew from the kitchen for us to share.”
“Right... you know the cook.” Suddenly Kostas felt that something in Trixie had changed.
She took off her parka and hung it on a peg by the door. She looked so lovely, even in her navy sweats, her big blue eyes sparkling as she smiled up at him... she had a glow about her.
“I felt as if you were avoiding me all day,” she said almost shyly.
“You looked busy...” Kostas' discomfort grew by the second. What did she want from him?
“We need to talk.” She offered an apologetic smile. “I've been thinking about what Ktal said.”
“Me, too.” Kostas watched her intently.
She walked to the lower bunk and sat down, as if she belonged there.
He braced himself and asked. “Could he possibly be right? Are you carrying my child?”
She stared down at her lap, as if fascinated by her tangled fingers. “I'm not sure.”
“Not sure you're pregnant? Or not sure it's mine?” He kept his tone neutral. So much hung between them right now.
“How could you think so little of me?” Trixie glanced up at him and frowned prettily. “If I'm pregnant, it can only be yours.”
Kostas let out a slow breath and a heavy weight flew off his shoulders. “Then you are not sure whether or not you are pregnant.”
“It's very possible. We have no pregnancy tests here. There has been some morning sickness, and Ktal had no reason to lie.” She sighed. “If their advanced scanners detected the pregnancy, chances are I am expecting.”
Noah's Ark Page 25
