by L. Fergus
“Thank you, Cotton,” Defiance said with a solemn smile.
Hali followed Cotton down and gave Defiance a hug.
Cotton turned to the rest of the panel. “If you want someone to pay for the damage, then let me.” The three remaining panel members looked dumbfounded. “What? You boys don’t think I’m good for it?”
Kita slid over next to Cotton. “Exactly how much is your allowance?”
“Enough,” Cotton said slyly.
Kita smiled. She grabbed the Verisom and dipped her deeply. She then gave the galaxy’s social and celebrity news outlets the picture of the year.
“So when you told me we’d go far, did you ever imagine we’d be waiting around in an empty ballroom light-years from home?” said Valor. Nerves and the tension were running high. She and Kita had been sitting in the room for over an hour.
“Well, as much as I hate to say it, it beats being confined to my cabin aboard Mauler.” All her friends except Defiance and Sheppard had been confined aboard the ship. No one had told them why or what they were waiting on. Days passed, and then they’d been escorted to Verisom Manor, taken to the empty ballroom with a ring of seven tables, and told to wait.
“Maybe it’s a surprise party for you and Cotton.”
Kita laughed sourly. “I’m beginning to wonder if that’s off. We might be too much baggage even for her.”
“You’d let her go just like that?”
“Not by choice. I think I’ve fallen in love with the bunny.”
“Uh-huh. You fell in love with her the moment you saw her.”
“There’s that kind of love and then there’s the longer lasting love. I’ve moved from one to the other.”
“You’ll always have me.”
“Don’t hang around being a backup plan for me. You still have a date with Hali.”
“Yeah, I know,” Valor said dourly.
“It’s supposed to be fun, not an execution.”
“It’s just so, so unnatural.”
“That’s part of the fun. And it’s not like a Diamock asked you out. A member of the most beautiful race in the galaxy did.”
The door on the far side opened. King Lear entered with a pair of assistants. Kita wasn’t sure if she should stand, but she did take her feet off the table. The Djinn glared at her but said nothing.
“Morning, Your Majesty,” said Valor in a pleasant tone.
The Djinn ignored her and took a seat at one of the tables. There was nothing special about the setup. Simple folding tables and common chairs had been set out. A table of water and other simple drinks sat in a corner.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Your Majesty, why am I here?” said Kita.
“To be seen, not heard,” he huffed.
A different set of doors opened, and a trio of Zentonians entered. One was Lord Falix and Kita nodded to him. He gave her a stern nod in return.
“Leatus, it’s good to see you again my friend,” the Zentonian wearing an impeccable suit said.
Kita guessed he was someone in the top echelon of government if he was greeting King Lear on a first name basis.
“Tixxit, always a pleasure,” King Lear answered in the friendliest tone Kita had ever heard the Djinn use.
The Zentonians took a seat next to the Djinn, and the two leaders struck up a conversation over some kind of sporting event.
The Aurori arrived next. Hali was joined by a simply dressed woman. Her dress had no embellishments, just a simple solid color. The chain that held it up was gold, and a sash went across her body. Hali wore a more colorful and sparkly outfit.
Kita tipped her hand at Hali, who flashed a tiny smile. I get the feeling I’m radioactive.
She whispered in Valor’s ear. “I’m bored. Feel like playing a game?”
The tiny Angel laughed and put her arm on the table. A giant saucer grew from her armor. Kita produced a dozen little spheres of water and dropped them into the saucer. Next, she produced two larger fireballs and handed one to Valor. Kita took the tiny fireball and loaded it into her thumb and finger. She lined up a shot and hit two of the water balls. They disappeared in a flash of steam.
“Ah, beat that,” Kita crowed.
“Challenge accepted,” said Valor. She lined up her shot, but instead of a straight shot, she sent her marble in a large spiral. When it finally ran out of momentum, she’d removed six of the water balls.
“Nasty trick,” Kita huffed.
Another door opened, and the two Angels ignored the trio of Verisom, including Cotton, entering. Kita took her shot. It went out like a parabola hitting three of the four remaining water balls.
“And for the win.” Valor giggled as she lined up her shot and took out the last water ball.
“I swear you cheated,” Kita said playfully.
“Whenever you lose is the winner always accused of cheating?”
“That’s the only way to beat me.” Kita took the two fireballs and tossed them into the air. They exploded with little puffs and bangs. It was loud enough to get everyone’s attention.
“Sorry,” said Kita. “I thought some fireworks might lighten the mood.”
She received a trio of dirty looks.
“I’m not the ones looking like I’m attending a funeral. And if it’s to be mine, then I’m going to have some fun.”
A giant ball of water engulfed Kita. She pretended to struggle and drown. The water began to boil. Kita caught the escaping steam in a long streamer of water. A ribbon of fire joined it. When she was free, she set the two streamers twisting and turning high above the group ending by twisting the two together tightly and letting them explode into steam. She caught the rest of the water and brought it to her. She phased outside and watered the plants near the windows. She returned to Valor.
“Nice trick,” Kita called to the Aurori. “But mine are better. Do it again, and I’ll start pulling out the ones that aren’t so nice.”
The Aurori talked among themselves. Kita seemed to get that Hali was being vindicated. Kita went back to the Verisom. Cotton was dressed much like she had for the last panel. The elder Verisom also wore an elegant sarong, a heavier tiara, and enough jewelry to be noticeable, but not overwhelming. Kita smiled at her but got nothing in return. She tried a smile with Cotton but received nothing. Kita shrugged. At this point, she didn’t care. If she was going to be baggage class, she was going to act like it.
A door opened. Defiance and Sheppard entered wearing the formal uniforms of the UEE. Kita and Valor got to their feet and went to greet the Angels they hadn’t seen in days.
Hugs and kisses turned into laughter as Kita and Valor described their incarceration in amusing detail, including wild hand gestures and a few pyrotechnics. Sheppard and Defiance could only elaborate on some of what they’d done. Kita and Valor were in a much better mood when they returned to their seats. The entire group garnered a sea of dirty looks.
“What?” Kita barked. “If you hadn’t seen your loved ones in days you’d be excited. If you don’t like our rituals go…”
“Kita, language,” came a familiar voice from outside the doorway.
Kita and the other Angels turned to see Snowy walk through the door. All the Angels took flight and landed to greet her.
“Girls, later.” Snowy laughed. “We have serious business first. You’ll just have to settle for a verbal hello, and I’m glad to see you all.” Behind her, two Diamocks stood waiting. Their uniforms made the Grand Marshal’s look bland. “Kita, let me introduce you to Politburo General Verk and Politburo Admiral Vink.”
Kita saluted the pair. “Ma’am, sir, it’s a privilege to command one of your warships.”
“The privilege is ours,” said General Verk. “We’ve seen the reports. A most impressive victory against overwhelming odds.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Without my crew and friends, it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“And so is the nature of war. One person can’t win a war alone.”
“Come, Vicereine. Sh
ow us to your and our table,” said Admiral Vink.
“With pleasure, sir.” Kita hadn’t felt this relieved in days. She showed them to the table next to hers. The Politburo members took their seats, and Kita took hers.
King Lear looked up from his conversation with the Zentonian. Seeing everyone had arrived, they broke it off, and he cleared his voice, which sounded more like a roar. “I apologize to everyone for calling you here on short notice. I know we all have more important things to do, but the incident on the Tet apparently cannot be solved by its usual governing body. So, it’s up to us to hammer out the details of what happened and why. We have two guests with us, the Princess of the United Earth Empire, Defiance, and her top admiral, Full Fleet Admiral Sheppard. We also have a representative for the minor race Angel, Vicereine Kita. She is also currently Captain of the Diamock frigate Mauler. For their benefit, we will go around and introduce ourselves. I am King Lear of Djinn.”
“Vicar Tixxit ChChitt, ruler of Zentos.”
“Eldest Statesman Trio Ach’m D’asora, leader of Aurora.”
“Queen Cauliflower, ruler of Verisom.”
“Politburo General Verk and Politburo Admiral Vink, leading members of the Diamock Politburo. Accompanying us is Minister Snowy of the Scientific Society.”
Lear nodded. “I hope everyone has had time to read the reports compiled by Tet-Sec’s investigators?”
“Yes, it seems rather incomplete, especially the battle,” said ChChitt.
“We have copies of the report Vicereine Kita compiled after the incident,” said Verk.
“I’ve seen that report. I find it rather suspect or at least omitting details as well.”
Kita turned beet-red as Valor put her hand on her arm.
“Does anyone find it odd that the Angel Kita seems to be at the center of everything?” said D’asora.
“May I offer a suggestion?” said Defiance.
“I will admit from the beginning that I don’t trust your integrity to be impartial to the Angels,” Cauliflower said.
“Kita is representing us, I am representing the UEE. If you’re going to question my integrity, then there is no point in me, Kita or the rest of us being here. We will return to the human fleet where we won’t be treated as prisoners. I will file a grievance over the treatment of Kita and her friends. The refusal to transfer them to my command is insulting. She checkmated my navy in one stroke. Are you afraid she’d do the same to you?”
“Who ordered you confined to quarters? It didn’t come from us,” Vink asked Kita.
“A Diamock General boarded Mauler and said he was taking temporary command until a formal hearing commenced. I didn’t question it because this wasn’t the first time I’ve either been confined to Mauler or my quarters.”
“We will investigate.”
“I can give you a name to start with.”
“Afterward, kitten,” said Snowy. She nodded at Defiance.
“As Kita and I discovered, your warships do not record everything that happens during a battle. Human warships do. If a ship is destroyed, we can find these black boxes and study them. I can have a replay of the battle from the humans’ point of view. You can see what your ships did when and even my crew’s opinion of it.”
“I’d most like to see these replays,” said Vink.
“I as well,” said Cauliflower. “The reports I’ve received from Tet-Sec and the personal report given to me by Princess Cotton differ greatly.”
Sheppard placed a call to Enterprise and Fort Ticonderoga. “It will take some time. We’ll have to bring our own system to display the data.”
“Just have it sent to me. I can display it,” said Kita.
“How?” said Verk.
Kita opened her hand, and the local news played. It still appeared she and Cotton were the leading story. She snapped her hand closed.
“She also slices, dices, cooks steak to perfect temperature every time, comes clean with a single wipe, and comes in a variety of colors,” said Valor.
Snowy couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s all true,” she chortled.
“My question is, who is responsible for this mess?” Cauliflower demanded.
“It’s my responsibility that the human fleet arrived,” said Defiance. “Their plan was to attack from the beginning, pound you into submission, and demand my release. Your response to the defense of the Tet is yours to sort out. In regards to the response to my fleet, it is pretty obvious whose fault that is.”
“Yeah, Sheppard made it pretty easy,” said Valor quietly.
“She did catch us in a pretty nasty check,” said Kita.
“But with my great idea we checkmated her.”
Kita shrugged. Can’t argue with that.
Cauliflower wasn’t finished. “Someone explain why I lost nine ships, with seventeen heavily damaged, and the rest damaged, while the only other ship to take damage was Mauler?”
“Easy, when Cotton asked for help everyone refused,” said Kita. “No one believed her. I warned the Grand Panel when I got here about the ingenuity, deceptiveness, and brilliant tactical and strategic abilities the humans have. I hate to admit it, even if the other fleets had entered the fight, the chances of winning without staggering losses would have been slim to none. You would have had to wait until they ran out of ammunition. Those fighters would have chewed everyone to pieces, and they didn’t even break out the big guns. What’s the maximum range of your cannons, Sheppard?”
“The Carolina has a range of seven hundred and fifty miles. The missile cruisers have a range of a thousand miles.”
“I also warned the Grand Panel about being cocky over two easy victories over the humans. As I told them, humans have studied and gone to war with each other since they figured out how to beat someone to death with a bone. Even during a period of unprecedented peace, their war machine keeps rolling. Your arrogance of your technological superiority was your downfall. I guarantee you the trick I pulled to capture Enterprise won’t work again against the humans. They’ll figure out a defense for it. I hope you start solving your fighter problem. How many fighters were lost, Sheppard?”
“Seventy-five, seventy-four attacking Mauler and one clipped a Verisom antenna array.”
“I suggest you wake up. Humans aren’t the only warmongers in the galaxy.”
Verk and Vink talked briefly to Snowy.
“Oh, no, you’re not sticking her in my lab,” Snowy exclaimed.
Sheppard waved Kita over. “I’ve got the data on my pad. What do you need?”
“Just a connection. The biometric one will work.” Kita took the pad and glided over the top of the human desk and landed in the center. Sheppard followed her. Kita turned on the display, and Sheppard walked everyone through what happened. She played voice commands and responses to enemy movements. Mauler breaking formation with the Verisom seemed to cause confusion. So did the anti-boarding canisters taking down fighters. They thought Mauler’s jump to FTL was a retreat. When it reappeared several minutes later next to Enterprise, the surprise was total. The boarding raid broke order in the lower part of the ship while the command tried to comprehend what was going on. Kita stopped the replay before it got personal.
“I think we have some serious errors and fabrications in reports from Tet-Sec and the Diamock reports,” said ChChitt.
“I agree. Our report was generated by Grand Marshal Tetarax. He would not normally generate such a poor report,” said Vink.
“He doesn’t like me much,” Kita whispered loudly.
“This model does show that Vicereine Kita’s and Princess Cotton’s reports are those most accurate,” said Cauliflower. “This does not explain why there was a delay in the other fleets arriving.”
“We will gladly open our shipyards to the Verisom fleet as a show of good faith,” said Verk. “We will investigate why our fleet was delayed. I will bring up the delivery of three frigate class ships to replace the ones lost by the Verisom fleet to the Politburo.”
“I d
o not have much in the way of resources,” said Defiance, “but Fort Ticonderoga is a mobile shipyard and can repair your lesser damaged ships.”
“Thank you, but no,” said Cauliflower.
“The Djinn will do their part and pay for a portion of the repair cost of the Verisom fleet,” said Lear.
The rulers divvy up who paid for what damages to the Tet and Verisom fleets. Once the financial bit of the raid had been worked out, Lear moved on to the next piece of business.
“What do we do with these Angels, specifically that one.” He pointed at Kita. “She’s made a farce out of the Grand Panel, ran amuck through the Tet, and nearly started a war.”
Kita pushed back so hard from the table, she sent it flipping on its face and the chair to the ground. The other Angels stood.
“I did not stick my neck out so you could cut it off when the enemy couldn’t. I won. If you don’t like the way I won, then next time you can try buying the enemy away,” she said to Lear. “Come on, girls, let’s go find our friends and get out of here.”
The four Angels glided to the door.
“Talk about ungrateful,” Defiance muttered as they left.
“Maybe we should burn the house down,” said Valor.
“Not a bad idea,” said Kita. She grew a red ball 18” in diameter. Valor opened the door, and Kita pushed it in. “Think about what this means,” she yelled after it. As the door closed, she heard Snowy cry out.
“Let’s go before they decide we won’t detonate it,” said Sheppard.
“We won’t?” said Kita.
“At least until we’re clear of the blast radius.”
The four marched down the hallway. Snowy ran out the door.
“Kita, stop.”
“I am done playing diplomat and being the good soldier. I suggest they start running. It’s going off as soon as we clear the grounds.”
“Kita, throwing a tantrum won’t get you anywhere.”
“It’s making me feel better. These fools think they wield power. I will show them what real power is. Causing fear, terror, and panic is a good way to start.”
“Kita, don’t do this. There are people in there on your side.”
