“That is utterly preposterous,” Lilith protested. “Katrinn would never—“
“Yes, it is,” Ebed Cya agreed. “Lily, I’m sending what we have in the area, and the Marines from the Embassy are on their way to help your daughter—but it will take time for everyone to get there. The Marines should reach the Tree in the next thirty minutes, but our space assets won’t arrive over Ashkele for several hours.’
“The only bright spot is that the Seevaans won’t get there any earlier than we do. They might have us on some technology, but they’re still constrained by the laws of Nullspace. But for the moment, we’re stuck with what we already have in place.”
“There has to be something I can do!” Lilith exclaimed. “Please, tell me there’s something I can do right now!”
“I can’t think of a thing, Lily,” Ebed Cya answered. “Except to do as I said, and wait for reinforcements. I’m sorry.”
Ingrit laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Lily,” she said gently. “She’s right. There’s nothing we can do right now.”
“No,” Lilith declared. “I’m going upside! They couldn’t have the entire crew under arrest and by now, the crew has to know that they’re dealing with a hostile force. If I can get them organized, maybe we can retake the ship ourselves and get the Battle Group ready to meet the Seevaans.”
“Lily,“ Ebed Cya cut in. “I applaud your sense of duty, and the loyalty that you feel towards your old ship, but if you go up there right now they’ll just clap you in irons and toss you in with the others. Or worse. It’s pure suicide.”
“I have to try Myrelli,” Lilith insisted. “I have to do something. I can’t just stand by here and watch.”
“Then I’ll make it a direct order,” Ebed Cya said firmly. “Stand down, Admiral.”
Lilith shook her head. “No. I respectfully refuse to obey, ma’am.”
Ebed Cya shook her head understandingly. “Yes, of course. And I really can’t stop you can I? Not sitting behind a desk a thousand light years away.” Her image turned to face Bel Lissa.
“Captain, as a Sisterhood ship, I must remind you that you’re also part of the Merchant Marine and subject to its regulations. As of now, consider your vessel to be temporarily commissioned for active duty in the Sisterhood Navy, under Vice Admiral ben Jeni’s command---if you please.”
Bel Lissa grinned. “Aye yah, ma’am. We’ll get the job done. No worries.” She sketched the woman a deliberately sloppy salute.
Ebed Cya replied to this with a crooked smile. “Very well. Carry on, Captain. And Lily, all I can say is best of luck to you. I hope that when this is over, we’ll have the chance to discuss this impetuous streak you seem to have developed.”
The call ended there.
“Take us upside, Captain, “Lilith said. “It’s time to get my ship back.”
“Yes, ma’am, straightaway. “ Bel Lissa increased their thrust and the JUDI began to rise.
“Look!” Grammy cried. She was pointing to the left-hand sitscreen. A lone figure was sprinting towards them, waving her arms frantically. Even at that great distance, her short stature and the rifle slung over her shoulders identified her immediately.
“That’s Kaly!” Ingrit declared. “We have to go get her!”
“Not a problem,” Bel Lissa said, neatly bringing the ship’s nose back around and dropping the cargo ramp.
‘Vid feeds from the cargo bay showed Kaly jumping aboard and running into the ship. By the time she had reached the bridge itself, the ramp had closed and they were ascending again.
“You look a little out of breath, Kaly,” Bel Lissa remarked wryly.
“Hey!” Kaly replied tartly, “you try fast-roping down a tower and running across that plaza. You’d probably be a little out of breath too.”
“Probably,” Bel Lissa agreed. “But I’m management. I leave the klaxxy stuff to you hero-types, and Zara when she’s in the mood. Now everyone, strap yourselves in. This is going to be a rough ride.”
Kaly and the others had only a few seconds to comply before she engaged the afterburners and the ship roared skywards towards the Athena.
CSS Teena’s Trick, Above the Necropolis, Ashkele Free Port, Hallasa System, Frontier Zone, Xee Protectorate, 1049.03|09|08:17:60
The only things that the CSS Teena’s Trick had in common with the C-JUDI-GO were that they were both civilian merchanters, and had engaged in their fair share of smuggling. This was where the similarities ended though.
Unlike the JUDI, the Trick lacked the sophisticated stealth technology that might have enabled it to evade the Navy’s scrutiny. When its convoy entered Ashkele’s system, it was immediately challenged by the USSNS Demeter, and only after passing muster, was it allowed to proceed. Once it reached Ashkele itself however, its Captain had to resort to prevarication and bluster to get her passengers to their destination.
“I already told you,” she was saying to the Demeter’s Flight Control Officer, “We are part of a mapping expedition with the University of Thermadon. My ship is engaged in creating updated charts of the Necropolis as part of a joint Xee-Sisterhood effort. You can check. Our permits are all in order.”
In reality, there was no such project, and no permits were on file anywhere. The Captain was simply hoping it would consume valuable time for the officer to discover this, and even longer to argue about it. All the while, they were heading straight into the restricted zone, and once there, she only needed a few precious minutes to deposit her group on the surface. Everything depended on that narrow window of opportunity.
Standing between her and her Second, the Redeemer himself patted her on the shoulder. “Your efforts are brave, Sister,” he told her. “However, I believe that we may have come all this way for nothing.”
“But Master,” she protested. “We’re almost there!”
He smiled calmly, the very image of all that was wise and holy, and gestured towards the sitscreens. One of them showed a pair of military shuttles which had landed in the plaza. Another displayed several crawlers, parked around one of the tunnels that led into the Tree.
“It seems that Shaitan’s minions have anticipated our coming,” he said. “If we go down there now, we will surely be challenged by the forces of darkness.”
“My Lord,” Ellen n’Elemay interposed, “We have our fighters. These women will lay down their lives to see your vision realized. With God on our side, we will surely vanquish our enemies!”
“No, Sister Ellen,” the Redeemer said. “I would not waste their lives here. Not when God has told me of another way—a way without a fight.”
“How, Lord?” she asked, and everyone on the bridge waited to hear his answer. As far as any of them knew, this place, with its Great Tree, was their only hope of smashing the Sisterhood and establishing God’s kingdom on earth. A miracle had to be in the making.
“There is another place,” he told them. “Another Tree with the same holy powers, and it is waiting for us. The journey to it will be much harder, and we will surely be tested along the way, but God has assured me that we will prevail.”
“Where is it, Lord?” the Captain asked.
The Redeemer called up one of the astrographic maps. After a moment of searching, he zoomed in on a tiny star system and pointed to its third planet.
“There? That’s in Hriss space,” the Captain declared, visibly shaken.
“It is at that,” the Redeemer answered calmly. “But God has already cleared the way for the Faithful, Sister. The Hriss may be idolaters, and unbelievers, but He has softened their hearts towards the True Church. They will greet us as friends, and welcome us in places where Shaitan’s whores would never dare to go.”
The Captain and her crewwomen, all staunch believers, crossed themselves. “As you wish, Lord,” she said.
The merchanter turned about and assumed a new heading that the Sisterhood ships were unable to challenge. It was towards a Xee merchant convoy that was departing the Free City.
Just as t
he Redeemer had promised, luck and Jesu’s blessings remained with them. Among its other ports of call, the convoy was headed into the Imperium itself. So long as they stayed with it, and didn’t deviate, the Hriss would allow them to pass into their space unmolested.
Once they neared their ultimate destination however, things could change, and the Redeemer’s assurance that the Hriss were their allies, would be put to the test. Only God, and the Redeemer knew how things would go from there.
***
The battle began suddenly, and without any warning. Maya had been standing shoulder to shoulder with her friends, facing their opponents. But no one had made any move to attack. Then, at some unseen signal, the Conversâzi agents were coming at them.
Simultaneously, the Seevaans exploded into action, rushing at the nearest women with their great poleaxes, and the Hriss engaged whoever or whatever was closest to them with their Akskakt’ts. The great chamber was immediately transformed into a battlefield.
Maya didn’t have time to look and see what her companions were doing, or offer them any aid. The agent attacking her was trying to slit her up the middle with a vicious underhanded cut, and she was forced to dodge and counterattack.
Drawing on her recent training, she pivoted on the ball of her foot and brought her body and her blade around, trying to score a cut across the woman’s exposed back. Her weapon never found its mark; with a smooth roll, the Conversâzi agent went under the blade and gained herself vital distance.
Maya recovered just as quickly. She brought her weapon up to a classic ready position and took a step backwards. In the process, she backed into someone. Without thinking, she elbowed the woman in the ribs, and then spun around to land a second strike to her victim’s temple with the butt of her sword. Fortunately, the hapless individual was one of the Conversâzi, and not a friend, and she went down immediately.
At the same time, her original foe saw the opportunity that the distraction had created, and came at her again, sword held high. Maya didn’t have the luxury of considering her situation, and simply reacted from instinct. She thrust her own weapon straight out and one-handed.
The ka’na was not designed for stabbing, but it still did what she had intended. The blade impaled the Conversâzi in the throat. The woman’s eyes bulged in horrified realization as she dropped her own weapon and fell backwards, grabbing at her neck and coughing up blood.
One enemy was now out of the fight.
The sound of another blade whistling through the air was the only warning Maya received that she was about to join her enemy in death. She threw herself sideways and down.
The Conversâzi agent that she had stunned with her sword hilt had recovered. She was standing over her now, completing her swing and then pivoting around to make a two handed downwards cut. Maya’s only option was an inelegant, but effective side roll, leaving nothing behind but the stone floor for her enemy’s weapon to strike. Purple sparks danced as the blade impacted with the unyielding surface, and then her opponent was spinning again and coming after her.
A Seevaan warrior interrupted the pursuit, slashing out with its own gigantic weapon, and forcing the Conversâzi woman to change direction and parry. Although she succeeded, the sheer mass of the polearm knocked her off her feet.
But before Maya could take advantage of this development, the enemy agent was retreating to join her sisters and fight the Seevaan warriors. Suddenly, Maya realized that she was alone, and far too near the Seevaan for comfort. She scrambled backwards and looked around her for any friendly face.
Then she spotted Skylaar. A Conversâzi woman was coming at the Nemesian, her sword already plummeting downwards in a brutal strike that was intended to split her skull. Skylaar responded instantly, rushing in and catching her attacker’s forearms with her own, blocking the movement. She followed through with a vicious sweeping kick and knocked her off her feet. As the woman hit the ground, Skylaar reversed her sword and plunged it into her exposed chest.
Even as the agent’s body spasmed from the mortal strike, Skylaar had pulled the blade free, and was turning in place to slice across the waist of another assailant who had been attempting to come up from behind her. The woman doubled over, and the Nemesian continued her motion, bringing her sword up and around in a tight circle to sever her head from her body.
Maya had no opportunity to marvel at this skillful maneuver, or react to the horror of what it produced. Another Conversâzi was thrusting her blade at her.
She pivoted in place, dodging the thrust, and using her left hand to grab her attacker’s upper arm. Then, putting all of her body weight into the blow, she slammed her sword hand into the agent’s elbow.
The effect was the same as if she had been gripping a roll of Kalian rupas. There was a wet snapping sound and the joint shattered under the impact. A half-second later, she shifted her hips, pulling her assailant forwards, and used the butt of her sword to land a hammer blow between the woman’s shoulders as she went by.
She was just about to finish her off when she felt a searing pain in her left calf, and barely caught sight of the blade as it completed its arc. As it started to come around for another strike, Maya dropped sideways and raised her own weapon to block the attack.
The Conversâzi woman didn’t get the chance to carry through though. Instead, the tip of another blade burst out of her sternum and she gasped in surprise and pain. Jeena had come up and dispatched her.
The body fell, and Maya rolled away and reached down, trying to assess the severity of her injury. Her hand came away covered with blood, but her leg still seemed to be functional. She also saw the chance to return Jeena’s favor.
Another Conversâzi was engaging the neoman, but she had made the fatal mistake of not counting on Maya’s quick recovery. She rewarded her for her lapse in judgment with a backhanded slash of her sword, slicing her along her side. The agent twisted and writhed and pain, and then folded over as her intestines spilled out from the wound in a greasy, steaming pile. Jeena stepped in right away and neatly severed her head with a single, precise movement.
It was still rolling away like a blood-soaked batly-ball when a pair of attackers engaged them both. Maya’s foe had brought her sword up to her face, holding it in a classic crossed wrists position that normally preceded an overhead and forwards cut.
Maya knew better though. She was well acquainted with this particular dirty trick; she had practiced ‘Snake in the Grass’ many times. Without hesitating, she dropped back on one leg as her opponent suddenly uncoiled and stabbed straight at her. The strike missed by a wide margin, and Maya took advantage of the opening that this created, swinging her own blade upwards, and diagonally. It severed both of the woman’s arms at the elbow and the agent staggered back as her sword, and her arms, flew away. Then Maya finished her with ‘Lightning from Heaven’, a simple downwards strike, splitting her head in half. The corpse dropped as she drew the blade free and tried to locate Jeena again.
The neoman was still battling with his original challenger—and two others besides. He was also smiling and laughing through the entire duel, and Maya could see why. Despite their best efforts, none of them were managing to hit him. He evaded every attempt with a deceptive ease. A moment later, he turned the tables on them by performing something that Mistress Jezzika had called ‘Wind through the Trees’.
It was an advanced maneuver that Maya was still struggling to master, and she marveled at its deadly effect. With no more than a turn of the wrist, he performed an elegant spiraling movement that was more akin to a dance than a combat maneuver, and his ka’na found its mark on all three of his foes.
Blood droplets flew into the air as one woman staggered backwards, her sword arm slashed near the armpit. Her partner was doubling over from a horizontal slit in her waist, and the third woman clawed at the place in her throat where Jeena’s blade had laid it wide open.
Maya gaped in astonishment. She had never guessed that he was as good as he was with a sword. In answer, Jeena
winked at her, and then pivoted smoothly on his heels to fend off another attack.
Something whistled past her ear, and her mind barely registered that it had been a throwing spike of some kind. When she looked for its owner, she realized that it had come from the human driver from the Gravedeep. She was armed with a Hriss-style sword, and just from her stance alone, Maya could tell that she was no expert.
This was also not the time to correct anyone’s technique, or show them any mercy. Instead, Maya threw herself into a forwards roll and attacked the woman’s calves as she passed her, severing the muscles. The driver fell to her knees with a scream that turned into a gasp of shock and pain as Maya came up in a crouch, and dealt a cut to her lower back. The ultra-sharp edge severed the woman’s spine and she flopped forwards.
Two Hriss warriors, who had been nearby, saw this as an opportunity and started forwards to engage her, but a Seevaan cut them down with his massive poleaxe even as his multifaceted eyes fixed on her. The insectoid wheeled around and began to swing. To Maya’s complete surprise, it was a pair of Conversâzi agents who saved her life.
One of them parried the creature’s weapon while her partner came at its forelegs. Her sword cut through, and the Seevaan fell, his forelimb amputated at the joint.
He still had plenty of fight left in him however, and kept hacking at them with his weapon. But the first woman leapt over his poleaxe as he tried to strike her, cutting off his other foreleg. With a whistling scream, the Seevaan collapsed and the second woman hacked off his head. As it hit the floor and bounced away, the triumphant pair turned, and came for Maya.
Abruptly, two spring-powered cutting stars flew into view. They had come from Sarah. One killed its target instantly by hitting her squarely between the eyes, but the other missed its mark. At the last possible instant, the Conversâzi agent had gone into a sideways roll.
It didn’t save her though—another Seevaan had closed the distance and brought his poleaxe around in a wide arc, catching her as she came up and cutting her neatly in half at the waist. Sarah in turn, finished the creature off with another spike launched at his huge forehead. It landed solidly, burying itself deep in the insectoid’s brain and the giant creature crashed to the floor, twitching violently.
Sisterhood of Suns: Daughters of Eve Page 76
