by Terry Frost
“The Hive was attacking a world known to us upon King Gaakin’s return, as Abor. The ruler of the Aborians was Empress Tui Kyno. The Hand to the empress was a champion warrior known as Commander Tolin.
“King Gaakin counted nearly eighty Hive nests engaged in the battle and to his and the other Zurgut commanders surprise, was the Aborians had developed stealth technologies. The Aborians were outnumbered but they were competing pretty well against the attacking Hive nests because their ships remained cloaked until they dropped their shield to fire upon the Hive.”
Hammer thought well shit a brick. I think we’ve already been introduced to the Aborians back on Planet Ogre and they were not friendly. Hammer didn’t know the aliens on Planet Ogre were not the Aborians.
“SO Faadin advised King Gaakin to stay out of the battle and thought it best to just observe the conflict. My king took his friend’s advice and ordered his commanders to remain as they were. But that didn’t last long as one of the Hive nests moved aggressively toward the group of Zurguts.
“Forcing their hands, the Zurgut battle group engaged the Hive nest and the story tells that the brave Daakie ships had destroyed five of the Hive nests before the Hive attack force jumped to hyperspace.
“Their involvement did not go unnoticed by the Aborians and within seconds our Battlestars were surrounded by their warships they call Predators. An uneasy truce held out for several minutes before King Gaakin was hailed by the Aborian’s top commander.
“Not only did King Gaakin find the Daakie a new ally, he also brought back their teleportation technology, and most importantly, a promise by Empress Kyno to come to the aid of the Daakie people should they need their help in the future.”
“Why didn’t your king ask for their stealth technologies?” Hammer asked.
“He did, Colonel, but Empress Kyno refused, saying that for whatever reason she didn’t think it wise to give other races such a tactical advantage. And though she was apologetic for turning them down, she said they could surely understand her feeling of not wanting to face their own discovery, in a battle against it in the future.”
“A very wise empress. Wouldn’t you agree, Colonel?”
“Suppose so, Admiral, but damn, it would have been a game changer for us and the Daakie.” Jak thought I’ve got to go to a planet ruled by a bunch of women warriors. Sounds like my kind of mission.
“I’m telling you this because I think it might be time to use the Aborian Empress’s promise to come to my people’s, and now your people’s aid, as well,” Maalik said.
Chapter 29
Nirvana Kingsley had finished sewing Junal’s betrothal gown, and she went into her bedroom to try it on, and then she was to come out and get the opinion of the ladies in her quarters. When she came out, they all had a fit. She looked stunning in her gown. It was gold and white striped, sleeveless, and the length was just below her knees. The gown was low cut in front and open down to the top of her plump butt in the back and very form fitting, that accented her breasts and curvy figure.
Ensign Wolski started playfully fanning herself and made a few catcalls which embarrassed Junal, but made her smile. Nirvana thought to give the gown colors that matched the Venic girl’s skin tone and gold-flecked eyes.
“Well, well, if Prince Gorvik doesn’t smile ear to ear when he sees you in that gown don’t marry him because he doesn’t know how to appreciate how beautiful you look,” Dr. Piner said.
“Thank you, Morgan. Thank all of you, especially, Nirvana. Junal feel like a princess.”
“No dear. You look like a queen, which by the way, you will be as soon as the ceremony is over with,” Nirvana said.
Talking to Ensign Wolski, Nirvana asked, “Margo, what time is the ceremony tomorrow?”
“11:00 a.m.”
Okay, Junal. Get out of the gown, we need to work on your makeup and try a couple different hairstyles. We want to take your future husband and king’s breath away,” Dr. Piner said.
“I don’t know how you got that gown on, girlfriend, but I’ll come with you and help you get out of it,” Margo said.
“Junal not know how to repay you kindly for what you’ve done for me, but ever you need Queen of Daakie, Junal do it. Junal happy right now but confused. Feel like weeping and laugh at same time.”
“Come on, sister,” Margo said while tickling Junal’s side making her giggle all the way to her bedroom.
“Didn’t she look breathtaking? I have to say of all the gowns I’ve made over the years, I’m the proudest of this one. Yes, it is simple, not extravagant like so many others I’ve made for other queens and princesses. I will remember this one for the rest of my days,” Nirvana said.
Morgan noticed tears welling up in the seamstress’s eyes and walked over to her and gave her a hug saying, “You did us all proud, Nirvana. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see the reactions of every Colossian and Daakie, especially Prince Gorvik, on this ship when they see Junal in that beautiful work of art. And, there is one more thing you need to think of.”
“What’s that?”
“You can add an alien queen to your designer’s portfolio?”
“I can, can’t I?” They both chuckled out loud.
****
Just prior to the wedding, Admiral Allen, Caid Tikit, and Burseq Maalik stood in Colossus’s hangar bay going over last-minute details with their respective pilots being sent out on the Hive reconnaissance missions. Tabbed for the mission for the Humans were Lieutenants Stern Baffy and James Cargon. The Daakie commanders selected two of their pilots of the same rank as the Human pilots.
Speaking to all the pilots, Admiral Allen gave them their final order before leaving Colossus. “Remember the importance of getting your intel as quick as you can, then get the hell out. The key to a successful recon is to go in and get out without being noticed.
“Lieutenant Baffy and Lieutenant Cargon, you will be shuttled over to your designated Zurgut that will take you to your jump off points. Once the Zurgut comes out of the jump, you will put the hammer down in your respective Darts and quickly recon the area, then fly back to the Zurgut. Burseq Amiik is the commander of your Zurgut and you will follow his orders. Am I clear?”
In unison, both lieutenants responded with, “Yes, sir, Admiral.”
“Good, now get on the shuttle. Complete your mission and get back to us in one piece.”
The three commanders hurried to the observation deck and watched as the Zurguts jumped. “Hopefully, our boys will find some of those son-da-bitchin Hive nests so we can plan our next move. Well, Caid, you have a king to crown and once Prince Grovik is King Gorvik, we will jump right into the betrothal of the new Daakie king and queen.” Allen said.
“It can’t happen soon enough. Let’s get these events over and done with. I’m not in a very celebratory frame of mind,” Tikit said.
Allen and Maalik knew sending out the reconnaissance teams would eventually play a part when Elimination Hive actually started, but the real reason for this recon mission was to placate, Caid Tikit, for the short term.
Tikit didn’t know the real plan wouldn’t begin until hundreds of recon missions were completed, as they did have a private discussion about holding off on the main mission with Prince Gorvik and he gave them his blessing. After the prince became King Gorvik, the issue with the Caid would be handled by his new king.
Chapter 30
Colossus’s Grand Ball Room was filled to capacity with admiring fans of the soon to be betrothed couple. Everyone able to attend, including over half of the remaining Daakie survivors, was present, and everyone attending was dressed in their formal wear. The Human and Daakie military personnel were wearing their dress uniforms.
Some Daakies were accompanied by their spouses and the same was true of the Colossians, though most of the population on Colossus were single. Unfortunately, nearly one-hundred people had to remain at their duty stations while the ceremonies took place, but many were able to watch the proceedings on
monitors.
It had been previously arranged that during the coronation of their king, Daakie music would be played through speakers that could be heard throughout the Great Ball Room. To a Human’s ear, the Daakie music was compiled of sounds they had never heard before. Their music consisted of deep baritones that rumbled throughout the room. Some would say the music was more like something members of their military would be used to hearing played prior to going into battle.
The two Russian executive officers, Petrov and Sokolov, thought the music was perfect for the coronation of a king. The gathered crowd was not separated by race as they all mingled and sat inner mixed. That alone made for some interesting conversations between the two races. No one was unruly and that was much to the satisfaction of Admiral Allen and Burseq Maalik.
When it came time for the king to be to enter into the Great Ball Room an alley was made in the crowd and everyone lined up along the edge of the alley looking back towards the large double door entrance.
At the other end of the alley, the steps up to a wide landing began. The steps were forty foot long and each step was a foot wide and a foot tall and there were eight steps in total. Attached to the high ceiling was three large chandeliers hanging at a distance of thirty feet from one to the next.
All executive officers of both races stood nearest to the beginning step. The Daakie music stopped and as soon as it did, Caid Tikit, who was holding the king’s crown began walking up the steps.
When at the landing he stopped and turned to look back at the entry to the Great Ball Room. From the top left side of the landing area, an individual Daakie stood out into view. He had a beautiful spiral-shaped horn that wrapped around his arm like a tuba but without the large sound channel.
He lifted the instrument’s mouthpiece to his mouth and blew out a long, deep, thunderous sound. Stopped and repeated the same length note two more times then stopped and returned out of view.
The large doors opened and in came Prince Gorvik accompanied by Burseq Maalik and SO Faadin. Gorvik, with head held high, looked very handsome in his shining high-collared black cover wear. He was wearing a highly polished version of Daakie battle gear reserved and styled for high-ranking military personnel.
Two large swords crossed each other across Prince Gorvik’s chest and the right side of his waistline was a long silver dagger tucked under his black belt. He looked every bit the image people would say the way a leader of people should look like.
Gorvik wore black form-fitting pants and black boots that came up to just below his knees. He had strands of gold weaved into his dark-colored dreadlocks that hung over his shoulders and down to the top of his chest plate.
As he and his escorts began their walk down the alley, Colonel Hammer, Commodore Jeeves, and Captains Sokolov, Slain, and Teasor stood one floor up watching him walk to the ceremonial stage.
Speaking to those around him, Colonel Hammer, said, “Seems the young prince has really matured since I first met him, and was forced to land my hornet on the lovely Planet Ogre.”
“Yes, Colonel, I would say my recollection of Planet Ogre was quite lovely indeed,” Commodore Jeeves said.
“I believe the Commodore is being sarcastic, gentlemen. Lord help us if his learning of sarcasm becomes an everyday thing because I don’t think he knows the difference between being sarcastic and trying to express humor.” Jeeves just raised an eyebrow as he pondered on that.
The coronation took almost an hour to complete. Several of the Human audience became fidgety while waiting for it to end. It was, in fact, a very long and wordy conversation as Caid Tikit asked the prince a ton of questions like, “Will you uphold a Daakie King’s pledge to do all in your power to provide a safe world for the Daakie people?” “Will you keep the Daakie military as strong as it can be?”
A couple minutes before the last question was asked, Colonel Hammer excused himself and told the men around him he needed to hurry down, as he was to be Junal’s escort to the stage. Captain Slain asked, “Why are you escorting Junal?”
The true answer was that she had asked for Jak to be her escort, and the reason being, he saved her and her prince during the space battle with the Hive fighters and then kept them from harm on Planet Ogre until Commodore Jeeves rescued them. But his answer to Slain’s question was, “The beautiful Venic had requested to be escorted by the best looking man among all the Human men she had met.”
Slain rolled his eyes as the other’s there laughed.
Tikit asked the prince to kneel. Once kneeled the Caid placed a handsome crown which was covered with gemstones ( probably Nawi gemstones) on Gorvik’s head and said, “Rise King Gorvik and greet the people.”
The ballroom exploded with applause and the new king bowed his head slightly. The stage cleared until King Gorvik was the only one on the landing. A couple of seconds passed then Admiral Allen began walking up the steps and once on the landing, he stood to the right of Gorvik. Then some Daakie music began to play again, only this music was soft and soothing.
Gorvik already had a smile on his face from the excitement of the coronation, but hearing what had to have been the Daakie version of music from a Human wedding, the King’s smile became much wider.
While the music was still playing, two dozen Marines moved to the center of the ballroom crowd and stood several feet apart, forming a line recreating the alley again, so the soon to be arriving bride and her escort could make their way to the center stage, and King Gorvik.
The large ballroom doors opened and in came Colonel Hammer locked arm in arm with the stunning Junal. Her long gold streaked blonde hair was pinned up into a wrap on the top and back of her head.
She didn’t wear a veil as the ladies that helped with her dress thought the young Venic needed to be seen undeterred by the cover of a veil. Junal had four-inch diamond channel earrings hanging from her ears. There were audible ooh’s and aah’s coming from the crowd as she was without a doubt the most beautiful bride any in the crowd had ever seen before.
King Gorvik’s heart began to pound once he laid eyes on his one true love. Admiral Allen leaned within earshot of the king and said, “Prettiest future queen I’ve ever seen, Your Grace. You are an extremely lucky man.”
“Yes, I am, Admiral.”
Admiral Allen married the royal couple and the ceremony went without a hitch. Once the ceremony was complete, the real party began. The party lasted on into the night, but missing from the festivities long before the event was over, was Admiral Allen, Dr. Stavens, Vice Admiral Petrov, and Dr. Piner. The two couples had slid out under the cloak of crowdedness and were privately celebrating the wedding in their own way. The newly betrothed royal couple was given the largest of two dignitary suites on Colossus for their matrimonial honeymoon. Though not as luxurious as the suite used for such purposes in the palace back on Planet Daak, it was none too shabby.
Chapter 31
The following morning Admiral Allen, Caid Tikit, and Burseq Maalik had gathered in Room Forward for a meeting. Burseq Amiik had sent a message that his recon mission was heading back to Colossus, and asked for the three commanders to be present when he arrived so he could brief them on the mission.
When Amiik arrived, Allen sent a shuttle to retrieve him and Lieutenants Baffy and Cargon. Once on Colossus, Admiral Allen asked his two lieutenants to wait for him in his Ready Room and he would get with them as soon as his meeting with Amiik had finished. He wanted to listen to what Burseq Amiik’s take was on the mission then see if it matched what the lieutenants told him.
Amiik began the debriefing by saying, “We began our search near a two-star system approximately four light years from here. The first one was known as Minut, the second star and the largest of the two, was known as Beggars. Tag’s Dorrik and Baviik reconned the Minut System while Lieutenant’s Baffy and Cargon reconned the Beggars System.”
“We observed nothing near the six planets orbiting Minut. But Lieutenant Cargon reported back that he had observed a squadron of Hive
fighters go down into the atmosphere of a very large red planet in the Beggars System. Following my orders, Cargon did not follow the fighters down to the planet.
We found no Hive nests in either of the Systems, but a squadron of fighters being in the area without a nest or a base nearby would be suicide for the pilots, as they have limited life support on their small spacecraft. So to conclude, I will say there has to be a base on the red planet.”
Burseq Amiik laid the pointer down and took a seat at the table. Caid Tikit said, “Good report, Burseq. We must send an attack force to the Beggars System to destroy the base on the red planet immediately.”
“Negative, Caid. That is exactly what we are not prepared to do,” Admiral Allen said.
“Excuse me, Admiral. And why not?”
“While you and SO Faadin were recuperating we decided on taking a different approach to the Elimination Hive mission. As any good commander would know it is much wiser to know the strength of one’s enemy prior to going into a battle.”
“Are you suggesting I’m not a good commander?”
“No, I am not, sir. I’m just making a general statement. I would never discount your ability to command. Your king and I had a conversation about the need to understand the strength of our enemy and he agreed that we should have a clear understanding of the Hive’s strength.”
Tikit directed his frustration at Burseq Maalik, stood up, and said, “We will see about that, Maalik. It seems you are still undermining my authority and that, Burseq, will not continue.”
Tikit started to walk out, with Admiral Allen asking him to sit back down until the meeting was adjourned. But Tikit ignored Allen’s plea and stormed out of the room.
