by C. M. Kane
‘Very good Lieutenant; please post guards and continue rounding up any thalien you can find. Make sure you check all maintenance personal.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Kell said.
Tannan turned back to the captain. ‘We can’t risk them being able to get off another shot, fire when ready, Captain Arden.’ Tannan looked on with a mixture of regret and rage at the disintegrating ship; he knew what his order meant. Tae would be lost.
The Hindishah took the first two volleys on her side as the Olympus limped slowly toward her. She fired again, a direct hit to the other ship’s bridge. With no force field to protect it, the Hindishah was beginning to break apart. The captain ordered continuous fire and the Olympus opened up fully on the hapless, dying ship.
‘Please leave at least a little for us,’ said a smooth voice over the com as the Hindishah was breaking up; it was Captain Torkin of the Idris.
Tannan smiled on hearing his old friend’s voice. ‘Torkin, is that you?’
‘Tannan, so like you to be greedy when there’s a thalien to be killed, but please, indulge us. The crew of the Idris, and I believe the Chemah, would like a little payback, too.’
Tannan smiled. ‘Fire away,’ he said, before watching as the two ships started pounding what was left of the Hindishah to cosmic dust.
Captain Arden motioned to Tannan. ‘Elite Commander, our sensors have picked up a small jumper heading for the pavilion.’
Tannan stepped toward a sensor techs display monitor. ‘Where?’
Captain Arden nodded at the crew member who bought up a display of it moving beside the pavilion near a docking bay. When it finally came to a stop it just sat there, doing nothing.
‘What’s it doing?’ said Tannan, frowning.
The captain shook his head. ‘I don’t know, sir, but the flight path was very erratic. Whoever is piloting it might be hoping we haven’t noticed him, so that when we leave they can slip away quietly.’
‘Can we shoot the bastard?’ Tannan asked.
The captain nodded. ‘Yes sir, but given where it’s parked itself I wouldn’t. If we hit its reactor core it might damage the pavilion. I wouldn’t risk it, not even with something that small. As it is they only got through the force field because it’s one of ours. I recognized the coding the computers automatically send when it neared.’
The crew member at the communications panel looked over. ‘Excuse me, Elite Commander, Captain, but the jumper is broadcasting to itself,’ she hesitated, clearly puzzled. ‘It’s a vid, in a looped pattern. I only noticed it because they’ve got it at full volume for some reason.’
Captain Arden looked at Tannan frowning. ‘Put it on the main com-screen, I want to see it.’
The communications tech nodded curtly. ‘Yes sir.’ The com-screen filled with the picture of a man playing a guitar on a cliff.
Tannan stared at the screen perplexed. ‘Move the Olympus around, Captain, I want to see what they’re up to before I risk doing anything just yet, in the meantime order some warriors ready for a boarding party.’
The captain nodded. ‘Yes Elite Commander.’ He gave the orders and the Olympus moved toward the pavilion.
Chapter 10
Loki was the first to see the Olympus’ force field start to flicker and then fade away totally. The nymph he had taken to the spare bedroom had been slowly kissing her way down his neck as she deftly unfastened his pants. His hand was tangled in her hair, cupping her head as he lifted his gaze. It was only by sheer luck he had looked directly at a com-screen, his eyes halfclosed in pleasure, otherwise he would have missed it. The force field of the Olympus had started flickering. He pushed the nymph aside roughly as he scanned the other ships.
The Asgard looked to be in trouble also, as did the Cretach. As he continued to watch in mute surprise for another minute, the Hindishah began to move free of the Asgard and Idris, before beginning to head directly toward the pavilion.
Oh shit, He sprinted from the bedroom back into the main common room of the pavilion yelling to his family. ‘Odin! Thor!’ He raced for Tannan’s com-panel, the gods looked up at his voice. ‘We’re under attack,’ he said, bringing up the view outside for the others to see.
Zeus leapt to his feet, coming to the panel and checking for its defense grid. Apart from the force field they had nothing. Damn … He quickly sent out a distress signal in the vain hope that Poseidon or Hades would be close enough. The Hindishah fired. The pavilion shuddered, but surprisingly the force field held.
Loki looked over Zeus. ‘It seems Tannan had the foresight to upgrade the grid with some extra crystals, I’d say we can take perhaps another three hits before our shields collapse.’ The pavilion rocked again. ‘Make that two, she’s using her pulse cannons on us, this grid was never meant to absorb that kind of strike. If it weren’t for Tannan we’d be dead already.’
‘Zeus! Something’s happening to the Hindishah,’ Isis called out. Another shot from the Hindishah slammed into the side of the force field instead of the middle like the other strikes. All eyes turned to the large com-screen, there was definitely something wrong with the Hindishah. The pulse cannon shots had stopped and the ship’s bridge shimmered, as a shadow spread outward, partially engulfing the ship.
As the Hindishah drifted closer her force field failed and they were able to clearly see what was happening, thanks to the pavilions still operating sensor arrays. Bodies and debris were being expelled into the vacuum of space as a gaping hole spread across the ship.
Loki grinned, remembering how the rock surrounding his ship, the Fenris, had been destroyed. There was only one person that he knew of who was carrying Ithacian White. Laughing in relief he looked to his father.
‘It looks like Tae Rames may have just saved the whole damn lot of us, because it looks very much like someone’s just dumped some Ithacian White onboard the Hindishah, and the last I knew, she was the only one here that had any.’
Each of the gods looked at one another in shock, then back up to the com-panels showing the now partially destroyed ship. They each breathed deeply in relief, knowing how close to death they had all just come.
Loki frowned. If it were Tae then she may still be onboard the slowly disintegrating ship. Although this news shouldn’t bother him unduly, he found himself silently willing her to survive. Confused at these unwelcome emotions he pushed them aside ruthlessly, before continuing to watch the Hindishah’s demise from a more dispassionate angle.
A blast of light lit up the stricken ship, quickly followed by another two. The Olympus had come to play, she was now moving slowly to intercept. Just as it seemed the Ithacian White had stopped its relentless assault on the ship, the Olympus took up the attack with brute power. It also looked like the Idris and Chemah were recovering and were now starting to move to join the battle.
*****
Zeus stood, watching his ship in awe. He was transfixed by her beauty and power, just as he always was when he saw her in battle. His head raised in pride as she fired her pulse cannons in successive bursts at the severely weakened Hindishah. What was left of the Hindishah broke in two and started to drift apart. He smiled in satisfaction as his ship crushed what was left of his enemy. His retribution had only just begun.
Chapter 11
Vesh arrived in the communications corridor just as he began to feel the unmistakable vibration of one of the reactors engaging. Sergeant Blake arrived just after him, a couple of stunners already in his hand.
Vesh held up his hand. ‘Brohan?’ he called.
Brohan stepped clear of the doorway. ‘Commander, what’s happening?’
‘We’ve been the subject of a small well organized assault aimed at disabling our ships; the Hindishah is attacking the pavilion.’
Blake moved to the communications bay and went straight to a com-panel. He organized new techs to take over the duties of the dead and for the dead to be removed. He also made sure there’d be no thalien helping.
Valaria hurried over to Vesh. ‘Tae’s mis
sing,’ she said.
Vesh nodded. ‘Thanks to you I’ve been in contact with Elite Commander Tannan, she has just been seen on the Hindishah, it seems they dragged her over there while all this shit was happening.’
They all felt the sudden vibration of the pulse cannons firing. Brohan looked at Valaria in sudden worry. ‘Damn it. We’re going to the bridge.’ He turned abruptly and strode away without another word, Valaria hurrying after him.
‘Nice work by those two getting this lot sorted.’ Blake said coming up behind Vesh to watch the two leave.
Vesh looked at them as they turned the corner. An old warrior and a brothel worker in a white barely-there skirt with an equally brief bright yellow top. He shrugged. ‘Elite Commander Tannan said it was the woman who took them out by herself.’
Blake’s eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘Damn me, that’s one hell of a woman.’
‘One hell of a family,’ Vesh muttered.
He went back into communications to double check everyone was dead and start organizing a ship wide scan for Thalien. He knew he also had to organize some techs to study each of the intruders’ work and personal histories. He needed anything they could find on them, the gods would need answers, and they would need them fast.
*****
The warriors guarding the turbo lift to the bridge corridor had been informed that Brohan and Valaria would be coming their way, so when they reached them the guards simply took their weapons, scanned them, and allowed their entry. It had only taken them ten minutes to reach the bridge, Valaria seemed to have an unnatural knowledge of every shortcut onboard the ship. Luckily the communications centre was closer to the bridge than any of the other major work areas. They had felt the vibrations of the ship firing as they hurried onward. It stopped just as they were allowed entry to the turbo lift.
‘What level?’ Brohan stared at Valaria.
She gave him a half smile and pressed level thirtyeight. As the turbo lift rapidly ascended Brohan smiled at her and muttered, ‘We are going to have a long chat when we get home.’
Valaria raised an eyebrow. ‘Never underestimate a woman, Brohan, and never underestimate me, or my family for that matter. You of all people should know that.’
Brohan gave her a considering look then nodded. They arrived to yet another lot of armed guards, upon seeing them lowered their weapons slightly, one warrior, a vampire, stepped forward.
‘Follow me, please,’ he said snakily, as if they were taking him away from a far more important duty. Valaria lifted her top lip at him in a silent snarl, showing him her still extended fangs. She wasn’t in the mood to be taking any shit from anyone tonight, especially not some upstart vampire.
They entered the bridge and Brohan’s eyes went straight to the main com-screen, the Pavilion of the Gods was still intact. He breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Where’s the Hindishah?’ Valaria stared at the com-panel, fear tracing over her face as she saw the threedimensional field of debris floating before them.
Tannan nodded toward it. ‘We took her out. It was Tae who gave us the opportunity; she deployed the Ithacian White she had on her. She took out the bridge crew and their major targeting controls before they could fire again killing the gods, we simply finished her job.’
‘Tae,’ Valaria whispered in a stricken voice. Tears filled her eyes as she bowed her head.
Tannan raised his head. ‘Her sacrifice will not be forgotten, she will hold a place of honor in all our memories for what she has done this day.’
A man began to sing as tears slipped down Valaria’s cheeks. Her head came up with a snap. ‘What’s that?’
Tannan frowned. ‘One jumper made it out of the Hindishah, they have parked themselves beside the pavilion and have been broadcasting this strange vid on a loop to themselves for the last few minutes. We’ve been trying to analyze it in case it’s a threat of some kind before we decide what to do to the bastard.’
Valaria started to laugh. ‘Don’t bother, Tannan. It’s Tae,’ she said in relief. She turned and threw herself into Brohan’s arms, hugging him tightly.
‘You’re sure?’ Brohan asked hopefully as he wrapped his arms around her. Valaria couldn’t stop laughing. ‘The vid is of a positively gorgeous terran male who looks a lot like a wolven, correct? Tae played it to me one night while we were having a couple of drinks in celebration of her finally learning to control her pheromones.’
She grinned up at Brohan. ‘I remember him distinctly,’ she said, eyeing the vid the female tech had now put up in a corner of the screen. ‘I was telling her how I wouldn’t mind biting off those tight pants of his, with my teeth.’
Brohan frowned at that little tidbit of information and looked more closely at the singing man.
The female tech on the communications panel sighed and said quietly, ‘I’ve got to agree with you there.’
Tannan and captain Arden scowled as they too looked at the man in question.
‘I can’t say I see the attraction,’ said the captain. ‘But, if there’s a chance it’s this Tae woman in the jumper, we should send out a retrieval crew.’ He looked questioningly at Tannan.
Tannan nodded. ‘Yes, straight away. If it’s Tae we owe her more than we can ever repay.’
The captain turned to another console and started issuing orders for a team to retrieve the jumper; he also had a medical team standing by in case she was injured. When he was satisfied, he signaled to the gods that everything was back under their control. As he did, the Atlantis came back through the portal from Thall. Poseidon contacted them as soon as he got clear of the portal, asking where the original mayday had come from. Tannan was explaining briefly what had happened just as the Cerberus arrived. To save time he put Hades and Poseidon on screen and went through the story, asking each to put any thalien onboard in their ship’s brigs for safety purposes, especially those in maintenance.
In twentyfour hours the gods would reconvene onboard the Olympus, this would give them time to question the captured traitors. Both gods nodded and signed off as the jumpers from the pavilion started to make their way back to their respective ships.
With everything organized he turned his attention back to the retrieval team, they were now locking on to the rogue jumper that might be carrying Tae. When they had it secured and had started on their way back, he walked over to Brohan and Valaria.
‘If you would come with me we can meet them in the jumper bay along with Lord Zeus, Loki and Persephone who will be docking shortly.’ Brohan and Valaria nodded and followed him to the door.
Chapter 12
Tae came back to full consciousness slowly, as if from a vast distance she started to hear noises intrude upon the little island of peace she was resting in. At first she could ignore them, but after a while the constant stream of someone talking irritated her enough to force her from her peaceful slumber. Memories of Jalek and the Island quickly surfaced in her mind and her eyes opened. She was on her back and looking straight up, her first sight was a pair of black eyes peering at her intently.
Still only half awake she thought for a moment she was still trapped on the Hindishah. Tae wasn’t waiting around for another broken arm or bashed in face, she swung her fist with all of her strength. It connected with someone’s chin with a satisfying thump, eliciting a grunt of annoyance from them.
‘What the hell!’
Was that Loki’s voice? She thought groggily as she slowly awakened. She heard Zeus’ booming laughter; it was that more than anything else that forced her back to reality.
‘Now that was definitely worth waiting for,’ he said jovially.
She rubbed her eyes, pushed herself upright and slowly looking around. She was in large white room; various machines of some unknown purpose were placed at intervals along the wall. Opposite her sleeping pallet her mother, Valaria and Zeus were watching her. Loki, who had been leaning over staring at her, was now standing beside her bed frowning at her in annoyance.
Jason moved passed him and c
limbed on to her bed beside her and began patting her hair and smiling. ‘Welcome back, Tae.’ He draped his arm around her. ‘The med techs told us you would be coming around very soon, you’ve been unconscious since they dragged your jumper in.’
Tae looked straight at Loki, blushing. ‘I’m sorry, I thought I was back on the Hindishah or something, I just saw eyes and swung.’
Loki scowled at her but before he could answer Zeus cut in. ‘Perfectly understandable, Tae, no harm done. In fact, I’ve often thought of doing the same thing to him myself… numerous times.’
A reluctant smile curled the edges of Loki’s mouth at his friend’s words. ‘You’ll be pleased to know your arm has been healed, as has your nose, jaw, cheekbone, eye socket and teeth, along with the various cuts and bruises you arrived with. We’ve been informed your nanites fixed your concussion by themselves, we’re just not sure how, it appears you have a technology that is foreign to us inside of you.’ He frowned. ‘It seems that whatever nanites you’re carrying can shield themselves from our scanners somehow. We’re attempting to ascertain how as we speak. We also found a small communications device in your ear and have replaced it with a permanent one, for convenience. You will now understand everything that is said to you by any race, we will also be able to speak to you through our communications system. Oh, and the med techs also gave you an injection of Avet as you have now reached your full sexual maturity,’ he added with a wicked smile. ‘Just refrain from having sex for the next month so you don’t fall pregnant, unless you take precautions that is, and you’ll be fine.’
