by Linda Mooney
Killjorn closed her eyes as the engineer methodically removed her one-piece, then drew her down on top of their discarded clothing. There, where the warm deck plates vibrated like a low tease, the physician opened herself to him, allowing him to give her some respite, no matter how brief.
He called her his Will. Not because her name is Will, but because she is the only person in the universe who can help him contain that unknown power he’s finally starting to understand. That, or she’s instrumental in helping him to control the being that’s inside him if his power is otherworldly.
She is his Will, his will power, and his sole saving grace.
May the universe protect us.
Chapter Twenty
Apology
Plymon found her on the observation deck. She was sprawled on one of the sofas, but she wasn’t asleep. A large mug of something was balanced on her abdomen, one arm tucked behind her head, as she stared at the passing universe.
It was late, and about the end of their shift. Will had left the bridge earlier, claiming she needed to take a break. After she had been gone longer than usual, Plymon went looking for her, to make certain she was doing all right.
She hadn’t been in her cabin when he’d stopped there. Fortunately, it was a small enough ship. There weren’t many places she could be.
He paused to stare at her, lying there in her baggy uniform, her new skin no longer baby pink fresh. Instead, it had already taken on a pale sheen. By the time she was able to erect her personal shield, it would be back to its tough and viable natural state.
She didn’t glance over to see who had entered the room, but he knew she was aware someone had joined her. Plymon debated whether to approach her directly, or to go around until he was in her line of sight, when she spoke up.
“Are you here to see me or to watch the view?”
“How did you know it was me?”
“Your knee still pops on occasion. Does it continue to bother you?”
“Not really.”
Will sighed loudly, then took a sip of her drink, returning the mug to her belly. Clasping his hands behind his back, Plymon strolled down the brief incline to the next level of seats before turning to face her.
“How are you feeling?”
Her eyes flickered over to him, her face remaining expressionless. “Doing better. Killjorn says my hair should start growing out soon.”
He had to be careful. Careful about his actions as well as his words. This would be his only chance to win Will back, and he couldn’t make any mistakes.
With Vall no longer around, she was his again for the taking, but only if she allowed him. And if there was one thing that got Will’s attention, as well as her total respect, it was the candid truth.
He perched himself on top of a seat back and clasped his hands in his lap. “We need to talk.”
“About?”
“I need to apologize.”
“For being a complete crallik hole?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him in surprised silence for a few moments. “What’s wrong, Plymon? Don’t tell me you’re here because you’re needing a quick fekk.”
Her sarcasm stung. But what hurt worse was the fact that she wasn’t totally incorrect. Since she’d left his bed, he had spent every night alone. At first, he had thought about taking another crew member as his fekk mate, but he had yet to commit himself. At first, he tried to convince himself he wasn’t going to do it out of anger. Yet, once the anger burned off, he discovered he honestly missed her.
Plymon shook his head. “I’ve had time to think about our relationship.”
“We have no relationship. Not anymore.”
He felt a tremendous sinking feeling go from the center of his chest to the pit of his stomach. Breathing became harder, but he forced himself to remain calm. Clear-headed.
“I meant our working relationship. Captain, I don’t want a transfer. I wish to remain on the Trinity.”
It hadn’t taken him long to realize a transfer was the last thing he wanted or needed, when all he truly wanted and needed was Willis Tayte.
She sat up. Taking another sip of her drink, she sat the mug on her lap. He had her full attention.
“I’ve had time to think about my actions, and I know now that my reactions were those of a jealous man.” He paused to see if she would comment. After a repeated swallow from her mug, Will leaned forward.
“You weren’t just jealous. You were possessive. Possessive of me and my captaincy. You wanted my chair first, and me second. It’s been that way from the moment you signed on, and it will always be that way for you.”
The words burned in his gut. Until that moment, Plymon had no idea how intuitive she was, or how acidic the naked truth could be.
“What can I do to show you I’m not your enemy? I know we’ll never be able to reestablish the close connection we once shared. At least tell me how I can prove myself to you.”
“For beginners? Never bring Vall into the conversation. Secondly, never touch me again.”
Her words were clipped and to the point. Initially, Plymon felt his anger rise at her statements. Then his hope took a nose dive. Never touch her again?
He opened his mouth to protest when a little voice in the back of his mind shushed him. She’s not over the guy. Give her time. She’ll come back to you eventually. When she needs a good hard fekk, she’ll show up at your cabin, and you’ll accept her without condemnation.
Realizing his mouth was still open, he tried to recover his composure. “And my transfer?”
Will didn’t hesitate. “It will be some time before we reach base. Hopefully, in the interim, you’ll have proven yourself to me again. I’ll let you know then.”
So, she was giving him a second chance. Good. Although he had hoped she would say the transfer was off, her answer was enough, and it was better than being told his removal was a definite. He nodded and got to his feet, when Will continued.
“I know you were jealous, Braill. I know you resented me being with Vall. But you have to understand that you don’t own me. I’m not yours to order around. An agreement to consensual fekking does not give one partner dominance over the other. You, of all people, know that fekk mates can dissolve their partnership at any time, for any reason. That’s the way it’s always been.”
“I know that.”
She started to say more when a loud, blaring wail startled them both. Will dropped her mug, the contents spilling across the floor. Together, they bolted for the door to get to the bridge as quickly as possible, as Granth’s voice announced throughout the ship.
“Enemy ship bearing down on us! Enemy ship firing! We are under attack! We. Are. Under. Attack!”
Chapter Twenty-One
Unknown
Plymon was ahead of her by several steps, clearing the way as crew members rushed past them. She was all right with that. It was the fact that her stamina was already drained that worried her. She was pushing herself past her limits, when they had been fragile to begin with.
She stumbled before she reached the tube. Without thinking, the Sub-captain reached out and snagged her arm, pulling her into the tube with him. Although she had told him never to touch her again, Will dismissed this incident as necessary. Plymon knew what she had meant by her earlier demand.
The claxon continued to sound the alarm. The ship was programmed to automatically go into defense mode if a vessel identified as belonging to an enemy or otherwise unknown species came within a specific distance. Its shields deployed the instant the other vessel fired.
The tube jerked to a halt. At that exact moment, the Trinity jiggled as it shrugged off a close detonation. Will felt Plymon’s hand at her back as he shoved her ahead of him, onto the bridge. She barely had time to grab the back of her seat when the ship reacted to another blow. Before she was aware of it, she was flipped forward, head over heels. Her back struck the front of the chair, and only the soft padding covering the seat prevented her from any major injur
ies. Will grunted upon landing, her face screwed into a painful grimace. Crawling up into the chair, she buckled herself in.
“Who’s firing on us?” she demanded. The view screen was empty except for the usual panorama.
“Unknown, Captain,” Granth responded. “They refuse to acknowledge.”
“Keep trying. Anyone know what are they using against us?”
“Kleshenite missiles,” Plymon called from his station.
“Return fire, Captain?” Dierk asked.
“Do we have enough artillery to counter them?”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Hold! And turn us around so I can see who is fekking with us!”
Nimbly, the Trinity rotated until the screen was filled with the bright blue vision of the enemy ship. The craft was massive, even with the distance separating them. Side by side, the Trinity would have appeared as a miniscule dot against the cerulean-colored hull.
“Granth, who is that?”
“No idea, Captain. It’s not registering.”
“How did they manage to sneak up on us?” She gave Magnus a dark look.
“They suddenly appeared out of hyperspace, Captain, and began attacking.”
Will hit the communication button on the arm. “Balacon! They’re using kleshenite missiles. How are the shields standing?”
“We’re at eighty-nine percent. Those are powerful missiles, but they’re not being aimed at our most vulnerable points.”
Will paused to take in what the engineer had said, when Magnus called out. “They’re firing again!”
An almost luminous glow arched between the strange ship and the Trinity. The Nion warship rocked a second later.
“Balacon!”
“Eighty-two percent, Captain!”
“Captain, return fire?” Dierk repeated.
It only took her a moment to reach a decision.
“No. Do not fire back.”
Both Plymon and Magnus cried out in protest. Holding up a hand, Will bowed her head to gather her thoughts before explaining.
“Whoever they are, they don’t intend to destroy us, or else they’d be targeting our engines.”
“That’s assuming they know where our engines are located,” the Sub-captain pointed out. It made sense.
“Plymon, do we have any details on the make of that vessel?”
“No, Captain. Not without more data to study.”
“But they’re using kleshenite, which probably means it’s also their source of energy. Dierk, did we fully absorb that last blast?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Take it and reverse its polarity. I want one kleshenite negative blast aimed right up their rear. Low power, wide dispersal. Enough to disable them but not destroy them. I want them to open up and tell us why they’re attacking us.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Fire when ready.”
The greenish orb erupted from their underbelly and spun directly at the strange ship. Within seconds it encountered the enemy’s shield and slid through it as though it didn’t exist. In the next instant, the orb curved downward and disappeared behind the massive structure.
Will grinned. One of these days she hoped to be able to see inside the bridge of an adversary’s spacecraft when a Nion extended missile slipped past their strongest defenses like a blade through water.
A brief flash of light signaled the orb reaching its destination. The blue ship never wavered, but Will knew something had happened.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, a reddish glow was launched directly at them. Will barely had time to yell for evasive action when Magnus took the Trinity into a ninety degree tilt. Because of the Nion ship’s unique design and capabilities, the vessel responded immediately, and the enemy missile shot harmlessly underneath them before vanishing into space.
“Unknown weapon, Captain!” Plymon answered her unasked question.
Will winced as her body protested against the abuse she’d taken earlier. She would sport bruises after this encounter, and Killjorn would ream her out for it. Magnus returned them to their original position.
“Good maneuver,” she praised the navigator. In nearly all cases of enemy fire, she was confident in Trinity’s shields to negate the attacks. However, when it came to an unknown enemy like this one, the primary procedure was to try and avoid contact until the enemy’s strength could be determined.
Everyone stared out the view screen, waiting for the strange craft’s next move. One minute passed, followed by two.
“What I wouldn’t give to know what they were thinking,” Magnus commented.
“My bet it wouldn’t be in nice terms,” Will murmured. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her communications officer reacting.
“Incoming audio transmission, Captain.”
“Let’s hear it.”
There was a moment of soft static, followed by a low rumbling noise. Will ran her teeth over her lips. A ship that big would emit a deep hum almost constantly.
“Attention Nion warship. Turn over the Vall immediately, or face annihilation.”
The voice was calm and mechanical as it filtered through the translator.
Will turned to see Plymon staring at her, as were all the other crew members on the bridge. By the looks on their faces, they had heard exactly what she had.
“Attention unidentified warship. State your species, point of origin, and purpose for attacking us. What is your reason for firing on us?”
“Nion warship, captained by the female Willis Tayte, hand over the Vall immediately, or face annihilation.”
Now they had piqued her curiosity. Giving Granth the signal to momentarily silence the line, she glanced again at her Sub-captain.
“Captained by the female Willis Tayte?” she reiterated.
“They think Vall is still aboard. They don’t know we handed him over to Captain Alamet.”
Will motioned for the communications officer to re-open communications.
“Unknown warship, this is Captain Willis Tayte, of the Nion warship Trinity of Hope. We are policing this area as representatives of the Coalition of Regents of the Surro-Gambit galaxy. Identify yourself!”
“Nion warship, hand over the Vall or face annihilation. You have seventy-three uggerds to comply.”
“Anybody want to bet that’s not a long time?” Magnus commented under his breath, but it was heard by all.
Will nearly growled in frustration. “Listen up, you big blue monolith! We don’t take threats lightly, and we don’t have Vall. So go ahead and try to annihilate us! We’ll punch so many holes in your shields, you’ll leak starlight!”
All right. So it wasn’t her most diplomatic response. But there was no way to know if more of the same type of weaponed ships were on their way to join them, and she didn’t have the time to wait around to find out.
They listened for the ship’s reply as the seconds dragged by. Through the view screen, the alien craft never moved. Neither was another barrage of weapons launched in their direction. Will signaled for privacy.
“At some point they knew we had Vall. Which means they must be in communication with the Ben Objure.”
“Think the Objurians brought these beings over to their side because of their firepower?” Magnus questioned.
Plymon snorted. “These creatures are definitely stronger and pack more of a punch than the Objurians can, but they still can’t match one retaliatory class Nion warship.”
Nodding, Will added, “Apparently they thought they could, or else there would have been more than one of them intercepting us by now. Well, at least we know why they didn’t try to destroy us outright. They want Vall. Why?”
Granth waved a hand at her as he re-opened the communication line.
“Your time is up, Nion warship. Where is the Vall?”
“Go suck a black hole. Captain Tayte out.” She waited for Granth to close the line, then added, “Keep an ear open. Let me know if they say anything.”
“Want me to tap their o
utgoing messages?”
“Especially those. Plymon, how long has it been since we handed Vall over to the Legion?”
“Not quite twenty-seven hours.”
“That’s plenty of time for them to reach Regency Base, since they went into hyperspace.”
“Barring any problems, yes. They should have arrived by now.”
“Unknown warship has sent out a message,” Granth announced. He turned a pale face to Will. “Correction. They sent one message to one hundred twenty-one designations.”
One hundred twenty-one designations? One hundred twenty-one ships?
“What does it say?” she asked, although she dreaded the fact that she already knew the answer.
“The message contains one word. Fire.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Distress
Will felt a coldness go through her. “One hundred twenty-one messages?” she repeated. She glanced over at the view screen where the immense alien ship nearly filled the entire window. “Granth, how many of those messages were in Objurian?”
The communications officer glanced at his board. “One hundred twenty.”
“What are you thinking?” Plymon asked her.
“And one message in what we could assume is in their language?”
Granth nodded. “That’s what I would say.”
“Magnus, plot the quickest course to Regency Base. We have to get there as soon as possible.”
“Already plotted, Captain.” The man pointed to the view screen. “Except that thing’s between us and home.”
“Granth, tell them we’re going around them. If they don’t like it, inform them we’ll slice a path right down the middle of their ship if we have to. If they still don’t believe us, remind them how we were able to temporarily shut down their engines.”
“Captain?”
She glanced over at Plymon.
