by G. E. Stills
“Open the cargo doors and prepare to load,” Gina ordered.
She, Robert and Keith brought up the rear. They were the last to crowd onto the shuttle and she closed the cargo doors. The freight bay was standing room only. “Take us up, Jill.”
The shuttle leaped from the ground. “Tracy, Celeste, We’re on our way. Open the freight doors.”
“Already open and waiting, ma’am,” Celeste answered. I’m shoving cargo out into space to make more room and Tracy is at the ship’s controls.”
The shuttle linked to the freighter and the prisoners rushed to transfer. Robert addressed her, “Keith and I will take care of things here.”
Gina raced down the corridor headed for the bridge with Celeste hot on her heals. Robert’s voice burst over her implant. “We’re all on board. The last of the cargo has been pushed into space. Shuttle programmed according to your orders. Freight door is closing now. Get us out of here, Ma’am.”
“Tracy full thrust. Let’s get out of this system.”
“Yes, ma’am. Full thrust.” The huge engines surged to life. The ship broke orbit and streaked at ever increasing velocity toward the edge of the solar system.
Gina burst onto the bridge. The ship’s gravity compensators prevented any feel of motion, but one look at the screen monitors in front showed different. The freighter was streaking toward the planet’s moon. Twisting dials and flipping switches, Gina brought two more monitors to life. One focused on the freight transfer shuttle. Just as she’d ordered, Robert had programmed it to descend toward one of the major Men-gar cities. She was certain it would never reach the city itself before being intercepted, but it would provide a diversion.
The other monitor focused on the space surrounding the planet and specifically the five Men-gar battle-cruisers in orbit. She watched for a reaction from them to the freighters abrupt departure. She felt certain there would be a reaction she just hoped it wouldn’t be a quick one.
Celeste joined her. “I expanded on your orders concerning our shuttle, Captain. I hope you don’t mind.”
“What did you do, Celeste?”
“Watch that battle-cruiser there.” She pointed at one of them.
Gina twisted one of the dials and magnified the picture focusing on the ship Celeste had pointed to.
“I set the shuttle’s computer to home in on that one. It’s programmed to explode just before it reaches their protective field.”
“Very good, Celeste.” A humorless grin split Gina’s lips. “I heartily approve your modification.”
There was no sound, just visual. The explosion expanded rivaling the sun’s light. A huge hole opened in the side of the battle-cruiser. Gina wanted to dance with joy. “They didn’t have their shield up, Celeste. The fuckers didn’t have their protection shield up!”
She knew the damage would not destroy the half-kilometer long ship. It was still very capable of fighting, but it certainly would add to the confusion and diversion.
“Captain, one of the Men-gar battle-cruisers is breaking orbit and appears intent on pursuing us.”
The freighter blurred past the moon with ever-increasing velocity. Gina watched the Men-gar Battle-cruiser come about to give chase. She bit into her lip, drawing blood. It was going to be close. She was certain the military ship had much more powerful engines. That it would overhaul them she was sure. She only hoped their head start would let them reach the outer system ahead of it. She prayed that Lucinda was waiting with her fleet.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Joren watched the freighter flash past them. “Go, baby, go,” he whispered encouragement to Gina. Next, he turned his attention to the pursuing battle-cruiser. “Marsha?” he asked.
“It’s going to be close. The freighter may be able to get out of the system before the Men-gar catches them, but it’s going to be close. Real close.”
Joren stood silently for a moment. “Then maybe we can give them a little edge. The force shield around the Men-gar ship will probably deflect our beams unless…”
Leaning forward, Joren entered some data into the computer terminal on the panel in front of him. Seconds later the computer answer flashed onto the small monitor there. There was not a hint of humor in the grin that came to his face.
“Marsha, I need the projected path the Men-gar cruiser will take.”
“Yes sir,” she answered and burst into activity. Moments later, she gave it to him.
Using small brief spurts of maneuvering jets, they shifted the Slayer into position. Mark, one of his small crew, shifted every bit of the ships energy to the weapons. His tiny crew busily focused all the beam weapons they could bring to bear on a single spot and waited. He hoped the pursuing Men-gar battle-cruiser would pass through that projected spot.
“We’ll only get one shot. Make it count,” he addressed his small crew.
The Men-gar ship cruised into the target area. “Fire,” Joren ordered.
The Slayer’s beam weapons lashed out and converged on one area of the Men-gar ships defense shield. It glittered, then sparked and went down. The single intense beam broke through and played against bare metal for a moment.
In satisfaction, Joren watched the rear corner of the giant ship melt and turn to slag. Two of its powerful engines winked out. Though the propulsion system on the battle-cruiser was crippled, none of her weaponry had been touched. Their weapons firing had revealed the Slayer’s position.
“We’ve kicked a hornet’s nest,” Zoe said.
“I agree. Cease fire. All power to the engines. Let’s get out of here, Zoe.”
Mark’s fingers played over his console keyboard shifting everything to the engines. At his nod, Zoe’s fingers raced over her inputs. The Slayer erupted into motion in a desperate bid to put distance between herself and the Men-gar battle-cruiser.
The Men-gar ship reacted quickly, destructive beams flashed out all around the Slayer. Some of them hit. Joren watched in dismay as damage readouts on the console in front of him began to light up. He silenced the robotic warning voice telling him of all the areas needing immediate attention. There wasn’t a thing he could do about it. His crew was far too small to try repairing damage. He just hoped that the command bridge or engine compartments didn’t take a hit.
The Slayer clawed desperately for distance, away from the Men-gar ship and toward the solar system’s edge. At least they’re no longer focused on Gina, he thought. Two more Men-gar Battle-cruisers left orbit around the planet and set course for them. At least if we don’t lose an engine we’ll be able to outrun them.
Their ship edged away and finally got out of range of the Men-gar weapons. Atmosphere streamed out of the Slayer from dozens of holes. Small ones and gaping ones. The command bridge itself was one of the few compartments remaining pressurized. In satisfaction, he watched Gina’s ship wink out of the system. The Slayer was gaining distance and not far behind the freighter.
Joren glanced down at the damage readouts and groaned. Gina is going to have my butt for turning her new ship into a barely functioning wreck.
“Sir, we have company,” Marsha announced. The space at the solar system edge quickly filled with more than a hundred spaceships.
“Identify new ships,” he ordered. He could only hope the newcomers were friendly.
“Sir, Admiral Lucinda is requesting communication with you,” Marsha announced. Her lips split into a grin when she faced him and he couldn’t miss her sigh of relief.
“Then put her through. We shouldn’t keep the Admiral waiting.”
“Lieutenant Commander, Joren. Nice that you could join us,” Lucinda stated. “Take station at the rear of the formation by the captured Men-gar freighter. We will take care of the ships pursuing you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered.
With wide eyes, Joren watched the massive destruction the humans and their allies were capabl
e of. She had anticipated the course of pursued and pursuers and positioned her ships accordingly. Fully half of her fleet was able to focus their deadly fire on the Men-gar Battle-cruisers. The pursuers were utterly annihilated in minutes. The allied fleet fanned out preventing any of the Men-gar spaceships from escaping and destroyed them. Next, they surrounded the hapless planet and after having their offer of surrender rejected, decimated every trace of Men-gar civilization they could locate leaving the entire planet not much more than a burned out cinder.
****
The moment Joren was dreading arrived. Gina and the rest of the crew approached in a shuttle. They had to wear suits since the landing bay was damaged and open to space as was a large portion of the Slayer. After greeting each other officially, they donned their space suits again and proceeded to her quarters in one of the few sections that wasn’t open to space.
Removing their suits, she faced him. “What have you done to my ship?” she asked in a stern voice. “I leave you in charge and you return it to me in shambles. A floating wreck.”
Shuffling his feet, he fixed his stare at the floor. “I’m sorry.”
Crossing the room, she melted into his arms. “I’m not. I love you. I was teasing. You saved my ass and didn’t lose a single crew member. More than I can say. The damage can be repaired.”
She kissed him. “Make love to me, my handsome man.” Taking him by the hand, she led the way into her sleeping quarters. She pressed a button near her bed. “This is Captain Gina to crew. I will be busy for the next several hours in conference with Lieutenant Commander Joren, do not disturb us unless it is an absolute emergency that can’t be solved.” She released the button and turned to him.
Several hours later, the attention signal buzzed beside her bed. “Captain,” Marsha spoke, “I’m sorry to interrupt your conference, but Admiral Lucinda is requesting to speak with you.”
Gina rolled away from him and adjusted the call box to intercom. “Captain Mitchell here, ma’am.”
“Captain. A passenger liner has been dispatched and will be arriving tomorrow or at latest the next day. The former prisoners will be put on her. The passenger ship, your ship and a destroyer will proceed to Teelan where your ship will get needed repairs. My fleet will remain here for now to greet any Men-gar ship that happens along. They’ll soon get the word that this system is no longer theirs. That is all. I’ll let you get back to your conference now.” Although Lucinda didn’t actually laugh, they could hear it in her voice.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Gina rolled over and kissed him again. “I guess we should get out of bed and get started preparing our wreck of a ship for the flight home.”
****
The Slayer limped into her berth and extinguished her drives. During the journey, the crew had been busy performing makeshift repairs. Several hours later, the repair crew chief handed Gina his report on the damages. “How long?” Gina asked.
“At least a month, ma’am.”
Gina groaned. “Very well.” She made the announcement to the crew that they would be on leave until she summoned them. Turning to Joren, she gave him a stern look. “You really broke my ship good.” She looked around to make certain they were alone and smiled. “For punishment you will have to put up with me daily for a month or more. Poor guy.”
“That’s pretty harsh punishment,” he whispered as they walked through the exit tube and grinned. “Guess I’ll just have to steel myself to endure it.”
“Yes you will.” She grinned back.
He patted her behind in answer.
She grinned at him. “I will give you the length of this tube to stop that.”
“Perhaps we should walk slower?” he asked.
She bumped shoulders with him. “Perhaps we should.” She chuckled.
They exited the Tormel to find Emma waiting. After hugs and kisses, the three rode to Emma’s house. Aden joined them a short time after they arrived and the four stayed up until late talking about what had taken place.
****
Joren sat up in bed when Gina walked into their bedroom and switched on the light. “Well good morning, sleepy head,” she said.
“Sorry, baby, I should have been up a long time ago. Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”
Now that his eyes had adjusted to the illumination, he appraised the way she was dressed. “Damn, you look nice.” Bright flowers in yellow and blue covered her print dress and black strappy sandals covered her feet. “Real nice.”
“Thank you. Aunt Katrina called and wants me to go to her lab for some tests. I’ll be gone a couple days.”
His smile sobered. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” His expression caused her to repeat her words, “Really, nothing is wrong.”
“Then I’ll take a shower, get dressed and go with you.”
“No, you won’t.”
“Gina, I’m going with you. Whatever is wrong, as your future husband, I want to be there with you.”
“Joren, it’s nothing to be concerned about.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a female thing. I’m not going to tell you anything other than it is nothing for you to worry about.” She guided the conversation to a different topic. “Mom is going to keep you entertained while I’m gone. When I get back, I’d like for the two of us to spend a few days at a resort on Earth. Just the two of us. What do you think? Would you like to spend a few days there?”
“I’d like going anywhere with you, but where did you have in mind?”
“You’ll see. I’ll be back in a couple days.” Emma entered the room. “Mom, I have to go see Aunt Kat for a couple days. While I’m gone take care of my guy. Show him the sights and keep him busy.”
Your transport is here Gina, Grant said.
“Gotta run. Bye Mom, bye, babe. Don’t worry I’m fine.” Before either of them could answer, she slipped out the door. Following her instructions, the ground car left her off in front of Kat’s lab. When she stepped in the door, a woman greeted her.
“Good morning, Gina, we’ve been expecting you,” the woman said.
Gina gazed at her stupefied. She was cat-like in appearance with short orange and black fur covering every inch of her exposed skin.
“My name is Tantara.” The woman extended her hand. She smiled. “And as you have no doubt guessed, I am not from Earth or Teelan, but another world.”
“Gina.” She shook hands as she continued to study Tantara. Judging from her bulging belly, the woman was obviously in the latter stages of pregnancy.
Kat entered the room behind Tantara and spoke. “Ah good you’re here, Gina. I see you’ve met my daughter-in-law, Tantara.”
“Daughter-in-law?” Gina asked stupidly.
“Yes she’s married to my son, Blake. As you can also see, she is expecting. This will be the second time they’ve made me a grandmother.” Kat smiled and rubbed Tantara’s back affectionately.
The upper lip of Tantara’s short snout curled upward exposing her teeth. “Don’t be alarmed Gina,” Tantara said on seeing her startled look. “This is just my smile. The planet of my birth is called Zanatha, but I live here on Teelan now and work with my mother, Kat.” She flashed another lip-curled smile at Kat.
Turning, the three women strolled from the reception room into the lab proper. “We have a lot to discuss,” Kat started, “I have samples of Joren’s seed and I need a few of your eggs. I’ll try to alter your eggs so they can be fertilized by Joren. You indicated in our conversation that is what you want. Am I right?”
“Yes,” Gina answered.
Tantara took her hand and squeezed. “Mother will succeed. I’m certain she will. She did with me and with my friend, La’lani.”
“Thank you for your confidence dear,” Kat said to Tant
ara. “Each time is new though when we are dealing with trying to combine genes from completely differing species.”
“Still…” Tantara started.
Kat interrupted, “If I’m able to successfully make your genes compatible with Joren’s I’d like to provide your AI, Grant, with the ability to control your fertility, Gina. That would save you having to use other birth control methods. This is with your permission of course.”
Gina grinned. “You have it. What do I need to do?”
“Go into that room, strip and crawl into bed. Tantara and I will be there shortly.”
Gina just crawled into the bed and covered herself with a sheet when Tantara entered the room.
Tantara placed a clear mask over Gina’s mouth and nose then said, “Take a deep breath, Gina.”
****
Gina opened her eyes to find Tantara staring down at her. Moments later the door opened and Kat’s face joined Tantara’s hovering over her. Apparently, Tantara had summoned Kat via implant.
“So are we going to get started or what?” Gina asked, sounding more peeved than she intended.
Both women smiled. “We’re all done,” Tantara said.
“What? How long have I been out?”
“Two days,” Kat informed, then went on, “you and Joren are stationed on a war vessel. Not an ideal place for a pregnant woman and certainly no place to raise kids. I have it on good authority however,” Kat winked, “that you will not be stationed on a warship much longer. Two years or less.”
Gina felt a frown form on her face. The thought of being removed from command of the Slayer was not a happy one. Her aunt Blaise was the highest-ranking military commander and she made the bulk of the important decisions concerning operations. Blaise only answered to Kat and she was certain the two women had consulted before making the decision to take the Slayer away from her.
Gina struggled to mask her displeasure. She was in the military and she would do whatever her superiors ordered and to the best of her ability. Kat saw right through her efforts.
“Oh don’t be such a sourpuss. The decision that Blaise and I have made concerning you is in the best interest of all of us. It will include a promotion too. I won’t tell you at this time what your new duties will involve. You need to shift your thoughts from the loss of command to one of having a family. Of having Joren’s babies. The operation was a success.”
