by Devin Cain
At the last statement, most of them let out a strange noise. It was unpleasant to the ears, but there was nothing I could do about it but bite through the pain.
"How can we trust you?" said a slightly different Gebradim trooper. His arms were thicker than those of his brethren and had a more yellowish along with a more yellowish skin.
"We will attack Gebradim Beta soon. Maybe in a month or maybe two. After we have resupplied on our home planet, we will come here again. If you all come down with me to the planet, maybe the queen will agree and become mine."
"Blasphemy! How can a Gebradim queen become your property? You do not know your place, Human! The queen is our mother! Our sole reason for living!"
"Hey now, you don’t want to make him angry, do you?" Samson snapped at the yellow Gebradim. He winced and took a step back.
"I apologize, conqueror. However, I don’t see how all of this could work. Maybe you should kill us all."
"No! I won’t kill anyone unnecessarily! Join me in the fight against bad Humans. You will get your chance at revenge when we attack bad, bad people. I don’t wish to be enemy of the Gebradim race, but people who were– our queen ordered the attack. Now I am the ruler of our people on my ship. We don’t wish to fight any longer."
He narrowed his stalky eyes at me appraisingly.
"Will you really bury our captain?"
I nodded slowly.
"Together with the-- lady."
Now it was his time to nod.
"And we will live on your ship now?"
"Yes, you will. We need your ship for repairs. Once it’s consumed, we can rearrange the composition of my ship and create a wing for your people."
"Five hundred of our people will join, but one hundred do not wish to. They wish to die."
I sighed.
"How about this. Does your ship has any vessels that can make it down to Beta?"
"Yes, two. Each holds up to five hundred Gebradim or a thousand Humans."
"Good, good. All of you who wanted to stay will take one of the two ships and go down to beta, and the others will remain on this ship. You have half an hour to do so."
"What will happen to the hundred that stays behind, Conqueror?"
I shrugged.
"They’ll become food. And you will be our ambassador for when we arrive to see your queen. Talk to her, and tell her what happened, tell her about me, an Armament user housing two ancients. Go."
The yellow Gebradim stared back at me for a long, unsure moment before he finally nodded his and dropped his weapon. It was a nice touch, I had to give him that, and something that would benefit us greatly.
"Conqueror. Be sure to check the armory before you devour this ship. It is located on the top floor. You will find some interesting things there. But now, goodbye."
"Until we meet again," I replied, looking up at Levi. She lay there, staring down intently on what was transpiring.
"What now?" Samson asked.
"We wait until the five hundred have left, then the two of you feed on the rest."
Chapter Twenty-Three
"So that’s how it went, huh?" Gremory asked over a drink in the officer’s lounge. "And now we’re officially the second strongest legion when you add up the tiers. Not that they matter anymore since you can do a full-body takeover and not just extensions like all the others."
"Ohh? Do I hear some jealousy?" I teased as I drank my glass empty. Gremory shrugged.
"Not really. I’m still ahead of you. I doubt you could take me, even at your tier two dual Armament. Does it even matter, though? You’re supposed to be my man."
I nodded slowly, taking her hand.
"For as long as I live," I mused. "And long may it last."
"True. So, what about Asclepius? Got any ideas for that one?"
The door hissed open, letting in two women and one man.
"Doc, please have a seat," I offered and stood to get her a chair. "You two, sit down anywhere you’d like."
The doc greeted us with a weak smile and a shallow nod, but sat to our right, while Levi and Samson sat at the bar.
"How can I help you?" Doc Ashiala asked, eyeing the Smirnoff in front of us. I took the bottle and poured her a glass.
"Don’t gulp it down at once, it has quite the kick," I smiled, raising my glass. Gremory raised hers and touched my glass, then Ashiala’s. The Doc, knowing what to do, followed suit and clinked glasses with me as well. It was somehow fitting, as today was all about her.
"So, why am I here?" she asked after taking a good sip, and shaking her head.
"We would like for you to bond with Asclepius. That guy was a mad scientist and doctor. With your skills and knowledge, the two of you would be a match made in heaven."
She frowned.
"I don’t want to become a monster. Where the hell did you get the idea I’d say yes to your proposal? Or is this an order?"
"No, it’s not," Gremory interjected. "We’ll never order someone to do such a thing unless they’re okay with it. We’re not our predecessors."
"Yes, she’s right. I would appreciate it and even offer you something as an incentive. Would you like to hear more?"
Ashiala twitched in her chair and bit her lower lip as if she sat on a fire ant hill.
"Yeah?" she uttered.
"How about you get your own laboratory? Your own holding cells, your own-- whatever it is you wish for. You will get assistants, helpers, cleaners, guards, and a big apartment for yourself. A shower and a kitchen. Everything you can wish for."
Her left eyebrow rose as she studied me for any bullshit she might have just heard.
"Or, you can live with us if you’d like," Gremory offered.
"What do you mean, with you?" she asked.
"Nothing. We have this huge space we call our own, so I thought you’d maybe like to live with someone, instead of being alone all the time."
"Oh, come on! We’re not trying to get you to join us in bed. I’m trying to get someone to do research and come up with new--"
"I’ll do it," she whispered. Gremory’s face lit up, followed by her clapping hands.
"Oh, yes!"
"Yes, what? Did I miss something?" I asked, somewhat confused. I obviously missed some interchange between the two.
"She’ll be our roommate!"
"I never said that! I meant that I’d form a bond with Asclepius."
Gremory frowned, annoyed at the turn of events. Ashiala noticed as much and turned red.
"I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve never been one for staying in a room with a guy, even if there are other girls present, so you’ll have to do with this. For now."
"Wait, what? I think you have it all wrong, doc! He’s more than enough to take care of my needs, and I’m not letting anyone near him," Gremory laughed. Ashiala let out a deep sigh accompanied with another gulp of the vodka. "Listen, imagine if we could use the Gebradim DNA to create some parasitic substance that would change our bodies just enough to gain a couple of positive effects like their water intake needs, their tough skin or natural strength. Imagine our soldiers being able to go toe to toe with any Gebradim or alien race without the need for heavy mech-suits."
Ashiala took another sip and leaned back against the chair, her eyes darting in between us. It was a strange realization that I hadn’t noticed how beautiful she was until today. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, there was mascara around her eyes, and lipstick on her lips. Had she anticipated this? Or had she other thoughts on her mind?
"Doc, were you supposed to meet with someone beside us?"
"N-no! Why do you ask?" she stammered.
"No particular reason. It’s just that I finally noticed how beautiful you are underneath all that bravado and stuff you do," I commented. Gremory punched me playfully before she leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips. Flustered, Ashiala coughed and looked away.
"So, how about we get back to the lab? I find that part rather intriguing. When do we start?"
I smiled and put my
right hand on hers while putting my left around Gremory’s waist.
"Go prepare yourself for the binding, and we’ll come by to say hi. Explain everything to Heather about what to do if anything happens. We still have to talk about some issues here, and see if we can get hold of Earth."
"Yes, I’ll excuse myself then. Please do not come by as I prefer to keep my nudity to myself, thank you very much."
Before anyone could say anything, she got up and stormed out of the room. Gremory sighed and put her arm around me.
"Devil? Sweetie? Can you tell us how long the repairs will take?"
"Tell her not to call me like that, or I’ll stop cooperating," he growled over the speakers.
"Holy shit! What was that?" Samson snapped and stood quickly.
"Easy, my friend. That’s Devil, the ship. And you answer the lady."
"Bah! I won’t tolerate such behavior! I’m ancient and unique! Either respect me, or I’ll crush you when you sleep!"
"Wait, can he do that?" Levi asked.
"Sure can," I replied. "And very well, Devil. We’ll try to keep in mind that you’re the ship, our main base, and our lifeline. Now, can you answer the lady?" I asked calmly, pinching Gremory under the table.
"Hey!" she winced and pulled her leg away from me. "Really?"
"Shut it, please," I whispered.
"Hmm. I think you’ve learned your lesson, no? So, as for the repair process, I have some good and some bad news. The bad is that I won’t be able to use all of the materials on the ship. About seven percent will be tossed into space, while the rest will be barely enough to patch everything up enough so we can fly."
"Wait, what’s with the seven percent? What’s the material?" Gremory asked.
"Felandite," Devil replied. "It’s a product that’s created by mixing certain types of metals. The Gebradim use it on certain parts of their ships, and so do we ever since we found out about it."
"Hmm, that could fetch a reasonable price on Earth, so in that case, yeah, we’ll take all of it, especially if we can pay for our basic provisions with the stuff. Can we put it in our storage bay?"
Devil was quiet for a moment before he replied.
"Yes. We’ll need an approximate of a hundred people in addition to the automated drones. A lot of them were destroyed during Cafka’s escape, and even more pieces of equipment were damaged. Some people with the know-how have been working around the clock to give us something to work with, though."
"And how are they doing that?" I asked curiously. "I mean, if most of it is destroyed, and we have no spare parts, how can they repair the stuff?"
"Simple. We have two large 3-D printers in the workshop and another one in the drone bay. We even have one in engineering, as things tend to break down quite often."
"So all we need is raw materials?"
"More or less. We could get a lot from the ship and down from the planet, so you don’t need to worry about that."
"Alright, good. Gremory, please have Kris take care of the loading. Anyone who volunteers gets double the rations and a shower at the end of the day."
"Do you want to know more about water usage as well?" Devil asked. I could hear it in his voice, and even feel it over our weak connection. He was enjoying this, but so was I by acquiring knowledge necessary to take care of this ship.
"Sure, hit me."
"In that case, I’ll dumb it down for you. There is an entirely closed-loop system onboard every spaceship that’s dedicated to water and is buried pretty deep into the meat of the ship so not everyone can just tamper with it. First the water is captured, be it uring, sweat, or even the moisture from our breath, and then the impurities are filtered out of it through an elaborate process which you wouldn’t understand even if I tried to explain."
"And you can’t taste that it’s—been purified?"
"No. It’s far cleaner than what you had to drink down on Earth before you joined us."
"I see, in that case, I won’t even feel bad for letting them shower. But it can’t be purified indefinitely, right?"
"No," Gremory interrupted. "We shave some ice from bodies out there in space, but it only needs to be done once a year or so. Otherwise, the system is quite efficient. By the way, what about me? Don’t I deserve one?" she asked, pursing her lips.
"How about we let those lovebirds get one first. They’re stinking the place up to high heavens."
"What? You stink far worse!" Levi exclaimed as she got up from her bar stool. With a deft move, she unzipped her smart suit and threw it aside. "Come on, Lady Death! Join me! We shouldn’t let these barbarians enjoy our company!"
"Samson, how about we go check up on something while the ladies have some time to themselves?"
"Yes, Commander," he replied, letting go of Levi and raced past me into the hallway.
"Don’t take too much time, we got a lot of work ahead of us."
"Sure thing, Commander. I’ll be sure not to make you wait too long," she whispered as I planted a kiss on her lips. "Say, why did I sense some jealousy in there before Samson stormed out?"
"You really have to ask? It’s not like I want everyone staring at my—woman."
"Oh? This woman has had many a man before your time, Commander. You better deal with it professionally."
"Hah! Anyone I know?"
She shrugged.
"You’ve met him, but no matter what you think or want to say, it’s been a long time since, and I have no more love lost for him. Is that enough for a reply?"
"Sure is if you say so. Now, how about you two go take that shower while I have a chat with Samson."
Samson waited for me outside with his massive arms crossed over his chest, acting like he didn’t have a worry in the world, so I decided to let him wait for a moment.
"Hey, Devil, who was she talking about?" I asked as the door closed behind me.
"She did what she had to in order to keep the legion afloat and alive, so don’t even think about going there."
"Hey, I wasn’t. I’m just curious, especially since she said we met."
"well, almost everyone she knew from the early days is dead. A couple BC’s and doctors, some engineers and guards. Though there is one who’s been there since the start."
"Oh? Who’s that?"
"Me, who else?"
"I see. So you guys are more or less relics of the past, huh?"
"Is something wrong?" Samson asked as I stood there, staring at the wall.
"Just some inner dilemma. I’m talking about an issue with Devil."
"I see," was all he said. He remained there, standing with his eyes focused on the floor.
"Lieutenant, speak your mind," I said, coming up with his rank then and there. Luckily, I knew the hierarchy in the space navy, more or less. One of the next things we’d have to deal with would be to hand out promotions, so until then it would have to do.
"Lieutenant? Are you sure?" he smirked.
"You’re my second in command along with Levi, no? Only after Gremory, that is."
"Hah! Hell yeah! So, where are we going?"
I shrugged.
"To get wasted? I surely could use some time for myself. If you’re up for it."
"Are you sure?" the big man asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.
"Not really."
"Then ask her and deal with the consequences, or forget about it. But keep one thing in mind, Commander, she’s yours now if I haven’t misunderstood. Don’t push or hurt her."
"I never said it was about her."
"You didn’t have to. I might be a big brute, but I’m not dumb, my friend."
"Hey, Devil, what’s his name?
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Come on, don’t act like an ass. Tell me."
"Remember, you asked for it. His name is Mikhail."
Chapter Twenty-Four
"Ahh, there you are," I said as Kris finally arrived. "Any update on the Doc or the haul?"
"Can I sit down?" she asked weakly.
> "What’s with the formality? You live here too, don’t you?"
"I guess," she replied, taking a seat opposite me. Her uniform, or what passed for a smart-cloth, was so heavily disheveled and dirty, that I couldn’t help but think she’d been scrubbing the engines with her body.
"I haven’t used his workspace yet, and this might be as good a time as ever, no?"
"I guess. Shit, I’m so tired it’s not even funny."
"Go get a shower and change. I’ll prepare us a drink and have someone bring food. We can work then if you don’t mind."
She nodded and got up from the chair she was sitting on and disappeared into the bathing area. Twenty minutes later, she was back with only a short-sleeved t-shirt on that fell to her knees. She sat beside me and ate the snacks prepared by the kitchen staff. I didn’t push her; instead I waited patiently for her to finish as I pretended to be doing something.
"Shit, this is much better," she chuckled after devouring all the prepared food. Once she felt better, I told her to sit on my chair and turn on the piece of hardware that very much looked like a computer. As she did so, I gave her a shoulder massage.
"Really? A password? To hide stuff from whom? Gremory and me?" was what Kris first asked. It was more to poke fun at them than anything else, but it sure did make sense once I realized all kinds of people could walk in on this place.
The second thing we’d done was to look for anything on Mikhail. Zero. Nada. Nothing at all. There were some minor details on the organization called The Host, but nothing much. It would have to wait until Gremory was calm enough to speak to me.
"So, can you tell me anything new?"
"I sure can. The doc is fine from what Heather observed, and we think she might be done soon. Regarding the second matter, we’re all done. It took us much less time than predicted, especially since double the people signed up. Now, there’s a small issue. A lot of extra rations were used up, and I don’t know how much we’ll have once we arrive on Earth. I keep imagining them prohibiting us from loading up on provisions. In such a situation, we wouldn’t make it very far."
