by S. E. Smith
“I had you with me. That is all that matters now. Besides, I vaguely remember you carrying me to safety. Though, if you wish, you could always thank me another way,” he teased, his gaze smoldering.
She wiggled her nose at him and shook her head. “You’re incorrigible. I swear you really have been around us women too long,” she retorted with a chuckle.
“I have actually found Bailey and Mechelle most informative in matters relating to relationships between couples on your world,” he said with a thoughtful look.
“Really?” Lina replied with a raised eyebrow.
He grinned at her before he held out his hand. “Yes. Come, you need food,” he said.
She looked at him with a strange expression before reaching out and grasping his hand. An uneven smile lit up her face. He pulled her close and slid his hand along her cheek.
“You have to share with me some of the things they have been telling you,” she said before she frowned when another thought came to her. “By the way, who is flying the ship?”
Waxian Home World:
Prymorus sat in the chair at the head of the room. Out of the two dozen Generals belonging to his uncle’s inner group, only six remained. Most of these men concealed their thoughts behind an inscrutable mask. Flanking these six Generals were a large number of Drethulan warriors, lined up against the interior walls of the room.
He glanced around the room. For centuries the Waxians had been considered nothing more than mercenaries for hire. No longer would they just work for others in return for a few credits. With the help of the Drethulans, he would oversee the creation of the mightiest military force the galaxies had ever seen.
In his hand, a tiny crystal fragment rolled across his palm. This was the key to his ambitions. This miniscule gem contained a tremendous amount of power. The red crystal, combined with the metal mined from Dises V would make his army virtually invincible and unstoppable.
The flaws in the Drethulan design and their refusal to follow his orders had led to their failed attempt to destroy the main Trivator bases on Earth and prevented his capture of Destin Parks. He had planned to use the brother of Razor’s mate as a weapon against the Trivators. The failure of the Drethulans would not happen again. Prymorus had capitalized on the Drethulan’s military fiasco to convince the Drethulan ruling caste that he alone held the key to their future—literally.
The Drethulans had at one time ruled the star systems, but an unknown species had risen up and defeated them. The Drethulan’s blood had soaked into the soil of long-forgotten distant worlds. Those few who had survived were forced to retreat to their home world. By the time they arrived, only a small number of their warships had remained. The Drethulan military had been decimated by the war and their population had nearly become extinct.
During his dealings with the Drethulans, he had learned of an interesting fact from the Drethulan retelling of their defeat that intrigued him: the reference to the red crystal ships which had appeared out of nowhere – ships that were not only unbelievably fast and powerful, but were commanded by living machines.
Prymorus hadn’t believed the Drethulan’s legend until a recent encounter was recorded and transmitted by a Waxian fighter before it exploded. During a brief conversation with his half-brother, he had been reminded of the legend.
Deppar used to have business dealings with another Waxian named Cordus Kelman. Kelman had been in possession of another Trivator warrior who he had forced to compete in the fight rings. The Trivator named Dagger had escaped. While in pursuit, one of Kelman’s personal fighters recorded an encounter with a red crystal ship.
Curious, Prymorus had researched Dagger’s history and discovered a connection between Kelman’s prize fighter and the warrior, Edge, that Deppar had located for him. It was possible that if one knew about the existence of the red crystal ship, then the other would also know.
He should never have trusted his brother with anything so important. Deppar’s only real concern had been ruling over the Spaceport. Prymorus clenched his hand in frustration. He was so close to having the resources he needed to bring down the Alliance.
If Deppar hadn’t been so inept, he would already have acquired the information he needed. Now he was forced to waste precious time and resources in order to find the Trivator again. He wanted the red crystal ship and whatever creature was controlling it.
“Prime Ruler Prymorus, I offer you my loyalty. What is your command?” one of the generals asked.
The man stepped forward, keeping his eyes locked onto the new Prime Ruler instead of the body of Prymorus’s now dead uncle, who had been the Waxian Prime Ruler. Prymorus stared back at the general for a moment. Rising from his seat, he deliberately scanned around the room, making sure to make eye contact with all who stood there. If they lived, each of the remaining men had the potential to be an integral part in the future of the Waxian Rule.
“A Trivator and a human female escaped from Oculus IX. I want them found—alive,” Prymorus ordered.
“I will personally see to it, Prime Ruler,” the general vowed with a stiff bow.
Prymorus watched as the man backed away before turning and leaving the room. The other men looked back and forth between Prymorus, the general, the dead former Prime Ruler, and exchanged telling looks between themselves. Irritation swept through him.
Perhaps only one of these men will be a part of the new Waxian Rule, he thought.
“What are you waiting for? Find the Trivator and the human!” he snapped before pointing to another general. “You, get this room cleaned.”
“Yes, sir,” the man replied.
Prymorus slowly sank down in the chair behind him. Opening his hand, he moodily stared at the crystal. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cylinder made from the metal ore mined on Dises V.
He placed the crystal into the modified power housing for the small laser pointer. A powerful, thin beam of red energy spanned the length of the room. With a slash of his wrist, the stone table in the center of the room, large enough for fifty men to sit around, split in two.
A grim, ruthless smile curved his lips when the Waxian Generals in the room jumped. Something so small, yet so powerful. If he controlled a whole crystal it was possible that he could destroy a planet with its power. With that type of power, he would be invincible. No one, not the Alliance, not even the Trivators, would dare to stand in his way.
A new thought coursed through him. His focus again moved to the Drethulans. He had a new project for them to add to their list. Once he had the crystal ship within his grasp, he would use the energy to destroy not one, but two planets—Rathon and Earth. Then, the Alliance would submit to his rule.
Rising to his feet again, he strode out of the room. It was time to redefine the role of the Waxian forces in their universe and unite them with a common cause. Any who defied him would suffer the same fate as his uncle and the dead generals.
Chapter Twenty-Two
So, what is this?” Andy asked, leaning forward and pointing to another button on the console.
“The port and starboard weapon turrets. If you push this one, there are slides on each side that will extend. Each contains an XE450 laser cannon. Whoever owned this ship before made sure that it was upgraded with the best equipment. The XE450 came out fifteen years ago. I would say the ship was in the landing bay for at least three years based on the records I was able to retrieve,” Edge explained.
He looked up when Lina stepped onto the bridge. They had been traveling for three days and had just left the inner boundaries of the Waxian star system. Andy and Mirela were very enthusiastic about learning how to operate the ship and its weaponry.
“How long will it take until we arrive on Rathon?” Lina asked, sliding into one of the vacant seats.
“A month, possibly longer. We will be traveling through some hostile regions and must proceed cautiously,” he explained.
Andy turned in her seat to grin at Lina. “We couldn’t have found a more kic
kass spaceship. This thing is fully loaded! It has shields and blasters and supercharged engines,” she crowed with a beaming grin. “Gail and I are going to go check out the upper and lower gun turrets.”
Lina chuckled. “You sound just like Bailey, only she was raving about the medical unit,” she replied.
Gail snorted. “You should have heard Mechelle talking about the galley and the washing machines. She also found out where the captain was stashing her personal items,” she said.
“Her?” Lina replied in surprise.
Gail nodded. “We are assuming it is a she. It would appear the former captain liked to wear fine clothing on occasion along with lots of black leather,” she said.
“I wonder what happened to her?” Lina speculated.
Andy shrugged. “Her loss is our gain. We’ll see you later,” she said, rising from the co-pilot seat.
Lina nodded. Edge didn’t comment, his gaze was focused on Lina. He waited until Andy and Gail left before he reached over, cupped Lina’s hand, and brought it to his lips.
“Bailey told me that you’ve been by the medical unit,” she murmured, searching his face.
Edge felt his gut tighten in response. He slowly released her hand and turned back in his seat. Staring out into space, he didn’t reply at first.
“It is nothing,” he finally responded.
He turned his head when Lina touched his arm. Tightening his lips, he shook his head and focused on the scanners.
“I thought the residual effects from the drugs had almost stopped,” she continued.
“I told you, it is nothing,” he said.
She released a loud sigh. “What are you doing?” she asked, changing the subject.
“The shield systems are emitting an unusual signal. It doesn’t happen often, but I don’t want to meet up with any Waxian or Drethulan forces and suddenly discover the shields are not at one hundred percent,” he said, checking the system again and continuing to explain about the other systems on-board.
In the back of his mind, he deduced that Bailey must have suggested to Lina that she should stay close to him. The thought of his weakness gnawed at him. The episodes of uncontrollable shivers and the visions of insects crawling out of the walls and over his body were less frequent, but they still left him weak and his mind filled with chaos. The unbidden, mind-shattering swirling of random thoughts and flashes of memories worried him the most.
Even now, he fought against the trembling and visions. His fingers itched to crush the insects climbing out of the console in front of him. He had to keep telling himself that none of them were real.
The surgery bed scanner was still analyzing the compound that Deppar had used on him. Bailey had sympathetically explained that it would probably take some time and that he might need to accept that there would always be moments in his life when he might suffer from flashbacks. There had been no need for him to ask Bailey what she meant.
“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Lina asked when his voice faded.
He understood the double meaning in her words. Turning to look at her, he could see the troubled expression in her eyes. He decided right then and there that he would thank the Goddess every day for sending him such a beautiful warrior to be his Amate.
“Stay close to me,” he admitted.
She stood up, wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. The simple, intimate act had the power to still the trembling in his hands and calm the doubts in his mind. He was about to pull her onto his lap when the sound of an alarm resonated from the console. They both turned to look down at the screen.
“What is it?” she asked with a frown.
His lips tightened. “We have company. Warn the others,” he instructed.
Lina nodded and turned. He heard her shouting to the others as he scanned the visuals appearing on the screen in front of him. A Waxian Class One Starcruiser. It was one of the oldest and smallest of the Waxian warships, but it was still deadly.
Data that he had forgotten suddenly filled his mind. The Class One could hold a crew of one hundred, along with fifteen fighter ships. Twin C-10 laser cannons on the upper sections were protected by smaller automated turrets. There were four small C-5 laser cannons located at the bow and stern of the Starcruiser. Both sets of cannons had a limited range of fire.
His attention snapped to the communications controls when the console lit up, indicating an incoming message. He was surprised when a Waxian hologram suddenly appeared on the screen. This must have been the previous captain of the ship.
“This is the Dauntless Explorer, freighter license XZ528, state your business,” the automated voice stated.
“This is Captain Adkindas of the Waxian forces. Under the orders of the Prime Ruler, you are to be boarded for inspection,” the Waxian captain replied.
The image next to him flickered, before repeating itself. There was a moment of silence on the other end. Edge used the time to program a new trajectory.
“I repeat. This is Captain Adkindas. Prepare to be boarded or we will disable your vessel,” Adkindas ordered.
“This is the Dauntless Explorer….” the computer-generated image began to repeat before Edge cut it off.
He opened internal communications. It went against every atom in his body to put the women at risk and ask them to fight back. The ship was small enough and fast enough to outrun the Starcruiser but not the fighters onboard. If they jumped now, it would burn crucial energy and leave them vulnerable because the fighters would simply follow them. They needed to disable the Starcruiser first.
He activated the shields and powered up the gun turrets. Whether he liked it or not, if they were to survive this journey, he would have to depend on the women.
“I’ve activated the gun turrets. Be prepared for a fight,” he calmly stated over the central communications system.
A startled chuckle escaped him when he heard the loud responses. The hoots and hollers followed by ‘hot damn’, ‘yippie-ki-yay’, and ‘let’s kick some ass’ were far different from the familiar responses of his peers. He looked over in surprise when Lina reappeared next to him.
“I’m your co-pilot. I don’t know shit about flying a spaceship, but if you have weapons controls here and can tell me which buttons to push, I’m pretty damn good at that,” she said with a grim smile. “Gail has the top turret. Mirela and Mechelle have the two sides while Andy has the bottom one. They are all kick-ass shooters. Bailey will monitor them, and she has the sick bay ready in case we need it.”
Edge cast a quick glance at her before he focused on the first target. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had practice at this,” he teased.
She was quiet for a brief second before she replied. “We did—against the Trivators,” she said.
Before he could reply, a group of fighters began pouring out of the back of the Starcruiser. They had the element of surprise in the well-armed ship they had appropriated, and the women were well versed in using it. The first four fighters were destroyed the moment they were visible. Lina was right, the women were kick-ass shooters.
“Shields are up. Lina, aim for the top turrets. We have to take out the largest cannons,” he ordered, guiding their smaller spacecraft toward the Starcruiser.
Nebula One:
Jag looked over the reports coming in. He glanced up when the door opened and Thunder and Vice walked in. He nodded to the two men before returning his focus to the most current reports from Jordan Sampson.
“Torch has installed the cloaking system, and it is online and working. Those Kassisan bastards have some very interesting technology. I’m glad they are on our side,” Thunder commented, turning around the chair across from Jag so he could sit down.
Vice did the same with the other chair. “I’d feel a lot better if we knew what else they had,” he added.
Jag frowned at the two warriors. The conditions on the Nebula One were more relaxed than normal, but he was still their command
ing officer. He could tell by the way they glanced at each other that they were baiting him.
Lifting his hand, he rotated the holographic screen so that each man could see it. He sat back and waited as they scanned the material. Their eyebrows rose in surprise and Vice softly whistled.
“Oculus IX destroyed? Prymorus has taken over as Prime Ruler, and the might of the Waxian military forces are searching for an escaped Trivator and his human accomplice,” Vice murmured.
“Human?! How in the hell did a human get that far into Waxian territory?” Thunder demanded with a frown.
“You don’t think this could be one of the missing women, do you?” Jag asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.
Vice ran a hand over his smooth head. He was one of the few Trivator warriors who shaved his head. Elaborate tattoos, bearing the symbols of the desert regions, his home, decorated his arms and chest.
“It’s possible, but from what we found on the ship carrying the other women, it was an Armatrux ship which took them. The Armatrux deal with the Waxians on occasion, but they have always had a strained partnership. Both sides would sooner cut the middle man out of a deal for a few extra credits,” Vice replied.
“The last information we had on the Armatrux ship that took them was from over two years ago. All records indicate it was destroyed in a battle with a Jawtaw freight tanker,” Thunder said, glancing at Vice who nodded.
“There is a possibility the Jawtaws took the women before the ship was destroyed. We have an informant working with the Jawtaws to find additional records on what happened. It appears the captain of the freighter didn’t always record new acquisitions correctly,” Thunder dryly replied.
“Not to mention the Jawtaws outlawed slave trafficking decades ago. They have a very stiff penalty for those who violate that specific decree,” Vice added.
“Well, our mission has just become even more complicated now that Prymorus has taken over the position of Prime Ruler,” Jag interjected.
