Realms Of The Gods

by C. M. Kane

  Liar, she thought. As she neared the star chair, she felt her own terror begin to rise up as if to consume her. Her gut knotted and she felt like vomiting, but she kept her mask of confidence plastered on her face. Over the last couple of days a part of her had wanted to get into the nearest jumper and make a run for it. She was way out of her depth, and all these people kept looking to her as if she knew what she was doing.

  She realized that none of them - bar Xirra and Adam- saw past her facade to the frightened seventeen year old girl beneath, instead they saw their Captain. Xirra had become a close friend and confidant since Tae had come aboard Brightmoon, and Adam had become like Brohan to her, a friend she could turn to for serious advice. Without them she had no idea what she would have done.

  Damn it. I can only do my best, if that’s not good enough and everyone dies then …, she paused in her thinking, No! That’s the old Tae speaking, I’m past that. It will be good enough, because now I have help. I won’t fail, I can’t afford to, if worse comes to worse, we should at least be able to take enough of them out for Zeus and his ships to finish off the rest. Besides, if I can take out Hera while they all watch, then the rest of her fleet may falter, but for that to happen I need her to fight me alone. Even if the fleet doesn’t falter she will be gone, and hopefully the main threat will be gone along with her.

  Tae, Adam and Xirra had devised a plan of attack quite out of the ordinary; it would rely heavily on her new-found lying skills. If it worked she’d employ the sheer power of Brightmoon in one intimidating effort, she just hoped it would be enough. She had no idea whether their plan would work, but she thought that it gave them the best chance of everyone getting out of this alive.

  She still asked Brightmoon to start building more buzz bombs, just in case the plan failed; it never hurt to have contingency plans in place after all. She also had the force field reinforced with as many of the highest quality crystals as it would take. That was when she had found out about the purple crystals.

  A ships power crystals came in three colors; the vast majority was the common blue, followed by the much rarer reds, and finally, the almost impossible to find purples. Although a ship could fire weapons without crystals by relying on a direct feed from their reactors, crystals gave them a lot more power. Each crystal had the ability to store vast amounts of energy, depending on its color. The blue’s held less than the red, and the red less than the purple, hence the purple could throw out tremendous amounts of energy when utilized in a weapons array. This way it could be released in a much more concentrated beam until the crystal ran dry, then you simply powered it back up again. The main problems with crystals were they tended to be fragile and relatively rare, so when a planet with crystals was found it was usually mined extensively. Tae thought the genocide that had occurred on Tuvarna was probably what caused the gods to stay away from the planet, well all of them bar Hera of course, she had no shame.

  In all their wanderings the gods had only ever found two purple crystals, she had no idea where they were now. Tae, much to her delight, discovered Brightmoon had three, as well as some small fragments she’d had Adam fit to one of Brightmoons jumpers. Brightmoon had designed her jumpers with far more advanced maneuverability and speed than normal. It was then that Tae had discovered that Xirra was training to be a jumper pilot, and from all reports was a natural.

  Adam had also reported that several of the smallest purple crystal fragments they had found on Tuvarna were missing. Although these fragments were all well under half a meter, it was still disturbing to not know where they had gone to. When Tae asked Brightmoon about them she got the impression the ship was working on something important and needed them; the ship refused to tell her anything more so she let it go. So far Brightmoon hadn’t let her down, especially with her armaments. Tae decided that she had to show her the same trust and respect as the Dreadnaught was showing her.

  When she first saw the crystals she had stared at them in awe. At over five meters long like other power crystals, they were at least three times more powerful than the red crystals Zeus had, and at least five times more than the blue’s. Adam told her they had taken them from Tuvarna over the centuries, but there were stories that Hera might have found one when she searched the world after she had destroyed its inhabitants. Tae had thought long and hard about what to do with them. Should she put them into weapons as most would? As she knew Hera definitely would.

  No, her first duty was to protect Brightmoon and her crew. Hera would be overconfident if she had a crystal of that power. That could work in Tae’s favor if she was able to provoke Hera enough. It left her one choice.

  Tae ordered two purple crystals be used in force field generation, backed up by the best of the red crystals. The other purple and reds went into weapons. The purple would power Brightmoons major forward array of pulse cannons; the ones she intended to hit Hera with, if she could get within optimum firing range. Once the reactors started Brightmoon had told her the time distortion field surrounding them would collapse. Cassandra had already told Tae that Zeus was already through the portal and Hera would soon follow, which meant Brightmoon would have very little time – or power.

  Brightmoon needed time to power up her reactors and to start feeding power directly to the crystals to finish charging them. To that end Tae had shut down everything on Brightmoon bar life support, the ship was now bleeding off any amount of power that they weren’t using from their small fusion reactor into the crystals, but it was a slow process, the crystals held enormous amounts of energies ready for use, still, they were getting there, albeit slowly. She needed more time, more time to power the crystals, and more time to be able to make her way out of the nebula at minimum speed while the crystals finished powering up, and for that she needed a plan which required bluffing.

  If this plan was to work, she would have to get very close to Hera’s ship so Hera couldn’t outmaneuver her when she finally did open fire, because the reactors were going to take a lot of time to reach optimal efficiency. She also had to try to stop her from using her long range missiles on Brightmoon if she could. Once again everything was going to come down to how well she could lie through her teeth. Tae took a deep breath. There were so many things that could go wrong with her plan. Well, that’s not going to be a problem if nothing happens, she thought. They were as ready as they’d ever be … but was she?

  She looked over to Claysal who immediately stood at attention.

  ‘Claysal, I am hoping to bluff my way into having the other ships stand down, at least while we take out Hera. If my plan works I’ll need you to keep an eye on them and be ready to act at a moment’s notice. If my plan fails and they attack anyway, I will be handling the major pulse cannon arrays and the buzz bombs. I will want you to target the smaller Khopesh class destroyers with the shorter range laser cannons and our missiles; don’t rely on taking out their bridge first. Ships may look similar in design, but each ship’s bridge is usually on a different level to the others, that way no-one can be sure that they’re targeting them directly. I’ve read some captains even change levels to confuse known enemies. And don’t bog yourself down with just one ship. Hit and turn, keep firing on them. Leave the Orion class cruisers to me, the Khopesh class are going to keep your hands full anyway. I will try to help you as soon as I can; I’m hoping the buzz bombs will make our job a lot easier.’

  Claysal nodded. ‘As you wish, Captain. Do you want me to protect the other gods the enemy fleet will be attacking as well?’

  Tae nodded. ‘Yes, after Hera they are out next priority. We must protect them and destroy Hera at all costs; all our futures are going to depend on what we do here today, you’re also in charge of the rail guns and deflector chaff. If you see missiles launched at us dump as much chaff and stoke up the anti -missile batteries, their all yours.’

  She turned to Rainya a brash young tuvarnan that was in charge of sensors. ‘Rainya, I’ll need you to try to find out where the bridge on Hera’s ship is, look for
the hub of most communication when I’m talking to her, because they’ll be issuing orders to every part of her ship once they finally see us and have us online, that will be your best hope of finding it. Train everything we’ve got at her.’

  Rainya nodded and smiled evilly. ‘I’ll find her Captain, don’t worry.’

  Tae took a deep breath and felt the star chair with her hand like she normally did, she felt soothed by the feeling of welcome given to her from the ship. ‘No time like the present, my friend.’ She thought, as she sat down for what she knew may be the last time. Tae started by reviewing everything she had learnt so far and placed the major pulse cannon under her direct control. She tested that the force field was ready to be deployed and, once she was satisfied, she asked Dolath to open a channel to the crew.

  ‘Attention all crew, it is time. To all of you who have the courage to believe in myself and Brightmoon, I thank you. No matter what happens today I want you to know it has been an honor and a privilege to have known and served alongside you. We are the protectors of the weak and the defenseless. We are the hand of vengeance for the unjustly murdered. We will stop Hera, not even the gods protecting her will keep us from our objective.’

  The bridge crew shouted their agreement their feathered crests rising.

  Tae felt a new surge of eagerness. ‘Okay then, let’s see if we can start those reactors,’ she said.

  Well that might be the longest, most embarrassing speech in the history of speeches if Brightmoons reactors don’t start. She thought sourly. But, first things first, she needed to tell the ship what was going to happen if her reactors came online. She tried to prepare her of course, but she needed to be one hundred percent sure she understood, or this could end in a giant disaster. Brightmoon, today we will be going into battle. This will not be easy for any of us. I’ll be honest, some, or all of us may be hurt, perhaps even killed. She felt tension begin to spike in the ship at her words. I will be with you all the way, sweetie, she soothed, rubbing the seat with her hand. We will do this together, with all of our friends, but I need you to do exactly as I say. This is very important, you must do as I say when I say it, can you do this? For me?

  She felt the ship worrying over her words. Brief scenes of a violent battle flickered through Tae’s mind. A huge ship, flames leaping from great rents in its hull came at her, it seemed to blot out the very stars surrounding them, and then it hit. Alarms began screaming everywhere, massive blasts of lethal energy started hitting Brightmoon in an unrelenting barrage. They began burning through her hull, ripping her apart from the inside, she was dying.

  Tae realized with horror that Brightmoon must still have data left over from her last battle, when the Ouranos was destroyed with all hands. Worst still, the ship was replaying it to herself, it was the only reference to space battle that she had. Tae cursed herself for not being more upfront about this earlier. She knew that Brightmoon must be terrified, if those few glimpses she had caught of the battle was anything to go by. She reached out her with her mind to ask the ship if she were okay. After a long silence she finally she felt compliance. Despite the horror of the battle scenes, Brightmoon still put her trust in her. The ship had just taken a frightening leap of faith and given herself over to Tae’s will fully.

  Finally, thought Tae. They had a chance, but not quite the one she thought they would have. Tae realized she and the crew would have to win this battle by themselves. She would entrust Brightmoon with the job of self-repair and making sure all bulkheads were ready to be closed in an emergency, as well as pouring every last ounce of spare energy into her power crystals. She wasn’t quite sure whether she could fully trust the giant ship in an all out firefight, given what she had just witnessed. If Brightmoon froze in battle they were all dead. No, it was best if they did this themselves, besides, it was their battle. They might be going to fight with the ships weapons, but they’d be using their minds to win victory. Somehow it just felt more right to do it this way.

  Tae smiled, knowing in her heart that her reasoning was right.

  ‘Thank you, sweetie, whatever happens from now on, we’re in this together, we’ll do the fighting, you concentrate on self repairs and keeping us safe okay.’ She felt the ships compliance to her request and relaxed, the dye was cast.

  Now, let’s get down to business. Reactors, she ordered. She felt herself drawn down into the heart of the ship. She was immersed in a silence so total that Tae thought herself cast adrift in a void.

  Start for me, Brightmoon, she ordered.

  Nothing. The void of silent nothingness still encompassed her.

  C’mon, sweetie, you can do it, I know you can. Show me your heart as I’ve shown you mine – Live Brightmoon, we’ve got a beautiful moon to go and visit together, it’s just out there waiting for us.

  As if from a great distance a small noise began. It sounded much like the thrumming of a moth’s wings as they beat franticly against someone’s hand. It gradually grew louder and louder until finally turning into a gentle, pulsing rhythm. So much like the beating of a heart, Tae thought in wonder.

  She could feel the soft vibrations from the anti matter reactors move through her body, the energy bubble that surrounded the ship disintegrated and at long last, time return to normal. The rock that was attached loosely to Brightmoons hull broke off and exploded away as if thrown by a giant hand. Finally, her force field went up for the first time; a rich, golden glow that enveloped the pitchblack hull of the ship with its red pinpricks of light that raced over it in random patches.

  For the first time in eons, a Dreadnaught battleship once again inhabited the realms of the gods.

  Brightmoon was fully alive.

  Chapter 28

  Anger he could understand, rage even, but this kind of betrayal? After all this time, why would Hera do this? Surely it couldn’t hark back to that short time long ago when she was his consort. Something he had never wanted to happen, but something he had done selflessly, despite his own desire for freedom. It had been his way of thanking her for her help.

  Zeus finished strapping on his sword. His rage simmered, building slowly at both her, and those who would follow her. Couldn’t they see how twisted she had become? After all they had been through to escape Titan, after what happened in their final battle to escape, and the friends and shipmates that never made it through with them. His great friends, Tarek and Volan, not to mention Libertas … he could still see her badly damaged destroyer heading towards the Ouranos, sheets of flame fueled by the escaping oxygen from the doomed ship had seemed to surround it, until at the very last they had heard Libertas’ battle cry, as she’d rammed her dying ship into the Dreadnaught. That one moment in time, that scream of mingled rage and defiance, it still haunted his dreams.

  They had lost so many good people in their final bid for freedom. Was their ultimate sacrifice to be in vain? Obviously the sacrificing of their lives had meant nothing to Hera or those that had joined her. They had forgotten the sight of Cronus in that new ship of his. After seeing and going through all of that, how could they do this to their fellow escapee’s; or were his people doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, until there was no-one left?

  No, we are so much more than that. We have created something good in these realms, something worthwhile. I refuse to let a few power hungry fools destroy all that we have created. We may be Titans, but we are not like Cronus, Hyperion or the rest of them, we have become so much more.

  Zeus admitted to himself that he should have done something about Hera centuries ago, especially after what she had done to the Tuvarnan. He saw now that it was his own weakness that had stayed his hand. Tannan had tried to warn him, but at the time he simply couldn’t kill the woman who had saved them all. He’d foolishly thought to himself that after all she had done for their people, and after her own devastating injury, she deserved another chance. Instead of killing her as he should have he had taken her aside and tried to warn her about her behavior. He had told her, in n
o uncertain terms, that it would not be tolerated in the future. He could still see the look on her face; she had been genuinely surprised at the fuss he had kicked up for killing a few “worthless natives,” as she had called them. She really did see herself as a god. But there was nothing benevolent in her. No, she saw herself as someone who could do as she pleased, when she pleased, to whom she pleased. Hera had no remorse, she was pitiless, she had turned as amoral as her father.

  Zeus shook his head in regret and anger at his own stupidity. He now realized that his little talk with her was probably the exact moment she had started to conspire to take over the leadership of his people, and he had been to wrapped up in his own affairs to even realize it.

  He stood with his head bowed, silently allowing his anger to mix with his determination, soon she would die, No-one challenged the rules of law they had set up amongst themselves and their realms, not even him. If given free rein Hera would destroy everything they had worked so hard to build and, worst of all, she would enjoy it. He could admit that now. The young woman he had known and once thought of as sweet was gone. She had been since they had come through the portal. If she had ever even existed at all, except in his own imagination. Had he ever seen her in her true light, or had he been just too blinded by what she could give him?

  What she once was doesn’t matter now, he chided himself. That woman was long dead either way, and in her place stood a cruel, ruthless, megalomaniac, one he had to stop at any cost, he just prayed he wasn’t too late. He closed his eyes and inhaled.

  ‘Hera, one way or another it ends today, your death or mine … it matters naught, either way it will be done.’ He turned, walked out of his room and headed for the bridge.

  Tannan watched Zeus enter the bridge, noting the look of grim determination on his face. He knew this must be hard for him. He had a legendary temper, but being betrayed by others of his kind must be soul destroying for him. Even with all of his bluster he knew Zeus loved the other gods. Tannan nodded to him, trying not to let any of his own emotions be revealed on his face.