by Candace Sams
Keir had encouraged him to do his best, to represent their respective planets out of pride, and to beat the smugglers who had joined the competition to hide their illicit actions.
The mission had been the whole point. Their placement in some stupid contest shouldn’t have mattered.
Unfortunately, he’d been forced to live with the consequences. He’d grown to hate the accolades heaped on him because of that damned contest. Especially since the citizens of Earth, Oceanus, and his native Valkyrie would never know the real truth. The mission, though over for some time, remained highly classified. All anyone in the normal population understood was he was a male beauty pageant winner.
Women who might have been wonderful companions wouldn’t get near him. They thought him shallow and vain. Those seeking pettier interests chased him constantly. As to the men, he saw derision on their faces every day. Warriors who’d risked their lives in battle ignored his experience in that regard. They preferred to look at him as though he should be scraped from the bottom of a boot. He’d seen the looks on their faces, heard whispers behind his back, and had to ignore it all.
He half-smiled as he strode on.
Poor me. I’m disgusting. And I’ve taken it out on girls who should care less about how they look and more about the state of their worlds.
No one knew him any longer. How could they when he no longer knew himself?
Once back in his quarters, he showered and stretched out on his bunk—nude—as he did every night. His wings fell to the sides, their tips touching the deck. He’d taken Keir’s job as the new captain of the Valiant, when his friend found the woman of his dreams. Now Keir would rather be with her rather than gallivanting through space—chasing pirates and other reprobates. The job Datron had always coveted was his. A few in his command, although they might not respect him, followed orders to the letter.
He turned over and pounded his pillow to vent annoyance. Self-pity wouldn’t get him anywhere. Nor would chasing dreams based on nothing more than some silly girl’s practical joke.
Datron closed his eyes and found his imagination immediately reconstructing his jokester’s diminutive image. Doing so shut out other sullen thoughts. “I’ll let it go,” he quietly decided. “She won’t be anything more than what I’ve seen in those other competitors. I’m making a fool of myself.”
With that decision made he finally fell into a light, troubled sleep.
Chapter Three
Planet Ussar
Sector 2904
Goron strode stealthily forward and stopped at the exact spot where he’d been told. The light from a Vetruvian glow stone shone from the interior of the cavern. Its bluish tint illuminated the granite walls around him and caused the mica embedded within the cavern to sparkle eerily.
“I am here, Admiral Crus. Just as you requested,” he uttered so as not to startle the supervisor carrying the stone. Because the man was armed with deadly weaponry, it wasn’t prudent to wait to announce his presence.
Crus set the stone he’d been carrying on a small tabletop of rock. Then he pulled a rucksack from his back and emptied the contents onto the same makeshift table.
An unexpected movement from deeper within the cavern, behind the admiral, caused Goron to reach toward his own sidearm.
“Do not be concerned,” Crus advised as he held up a hand to calm his companion. “It is only Sascha, my whore.”
Goron let out a sigh of relief.
The lanky, brown-haired Earth woman sauntered into view and wrapped her thin arms around the admiral’s shoulders.
“You go nowhere without her these days,” Goron complained. “Are you sure it is safe to speak with her present?”
Crus smirked. “She is as safe as any newborn babe. Since inhaling the sample of the Lucent Stone dust you acquired, the woman does everything I want. She obeys only commands coming from my lips and…”
“And?” Goron prompted.
“The sex is unbelievable. Take my word for it, Goron. It is so much better to have a willing woman than to take one by force. There is no howling or crying afterward.” He stroked Sascha’s leg and was rewarded with the girl’s bright smile. He then motioned her to sit near.
Goron watched the scene in disgust. He waited until Crus finished arranging their repast on the rock. Custom among their people dictated negotiations—especially those they were about to enter—came during or after a hearty meal.
“There is nothing she will not do for me,” Crus said. “I have but to command and she joyfully follows my edicts.”
Goron looked over the woman once again and noted how much more supple her limbs were than females of their own race. Earth women were not as thick and coarse as Ussarian females. Their hair came in all different shades besides the blue-black he was so tired of seeing.
Sascha began to massage Crus’ closest thigh. The girl then poured him more wine, and filled his plate from the cold offering of meat and breads from the bounty Crus—the admiral in charge of the upcoming mission—had dumped from his rucksack.
“Where did you say you acquired this Earth woman?” Goron asked.
“I took her from a Nibian mining colony after a raid. She was constantly berating me, throwing items whenever I approached and fighting every time I wanted sex. As I said, that is all in the past. The stones work as reported. And I will honor your request to keep one of the crates for yourself…provided you succeed in this mission.” Crus took a bite of more meat from the tip of his knife before continuing. “Now, what is your plan?”
Goron gazed around before finally helping himself to some of the food and wine. “Did you not receive my communiqué? I assumed you did, hence your request to meet in this cavern, Admiral.”
“I received it. And although encrypted, I promptly deleted it without deciphering any more than was strictly necessary,” Crus harshly announced. “My enemies are everywhere. They know nothing of the stones and I want it kept that way. I would not remain in command of the Ussarian fleet for long if our plans were discovered. What transpires here must remain between us and the small group of warriors who will go with you.”
“And those warriors?”
“On your return, those men will be put to death. Only you and I will be in control of the Ussarian Empire and any outpost or planet where there’s a dignitary to breathe the stones’ dust. With their minds under our control, we can rule everything. That is why I immediately deleted your missive and simply sent one bidding you to meet me here. Even if those who plot against me know where we are, they cannot follow without our knowing. We are too deeply situated within the caverns, and I have scanned for listening devices. I take no chances.”
“My apologies, Admiral. I should have asked to meet as we have before. But the news was so urgent I wanted you to receive it with all due haste.”
“Never mind all that now. Just tell me,” Crus encouraged, “what are the specifics of the plan? How will we gain control?”
Goron sipped more of the heady wine before continuing. “My contact on Lucent will be ready in a few days. The stones are gathered. Those guarding them are none-the- wiser.”
“After procuring them, you will head back to our world?”
“With your permission, Admiral, there is other business besides procuring the stones. I timed this event to precision. In the plans, you would have read, I outlined a certain…desire. I seek retribution.”
“Go on,” Crus nodded. “If it is a matter of Ussarian honor, I will hear it.”
“Do you know of the plans my younger brother had when he first discovered the existence of the Lucent Stones?”
“I only know what you have told me, Goron. Your brother’s death was unfortunate, but what else I know is precious little. Start from the beginning and make sense of the details that have so far been inconsistent.”
“I will, sir.”
Crus filled his flagon with wine—yet again. Then his superior leaned into Sascha and let her rub the inside of his thighs.
Go
ron ignored the erotic display and began the story as it had been relayed to him. “As you know, sir, we had a handful of warriors who were incarcerated on Lucent. They were heavily guarded and constantly watched by the most advanced security systems as well as a cadre of constables. As the next of kin to a few of them, I was allowed to visit from time to time. But I was constantly watched when I did.”
“Their imprisonment is regrettable,” Crus stated, “but I can do nothing for them. They would have to be of great importance to justify sending men and arms to free them.”
“Though they did not know it at the time, I did not wish to have them free, Admiral. My visits to them were solely for the purpose of gathering information. Indeed… I learned a great deal about what my younger brother was doing on Earth two years ago.”
“Proceed.”
Goron nodded. “Even though Lucent’s guards heard us speaking in a tongue unfamiliar to them and quickly silenced us, I was able to piece together what my sibling was doing and why those on Lucent, who helped him, were incarcerated in the first place. This is how I learned of the Lucent Stones. It took many, many months to glean the information. But I eventually put the facts together.”
Crus sat up straight and leaned toward his dinner companion. “If they know and tell others incarcerated with them—”
“No sir. That is quite impossible. On my last appointment to visit them in their cells, Lucent officials told me there had been a…mishap. It seems all of our warriors jailed there were being transported to a different holding facility when their shuttle crashed. They are all dead.”
“How convenient,” Crus noted.
“Of course it was no accident, sir. I believe Lucent authorities had them killed. The authorities on that world were protecting news of the stones’ existence. They were afraid I might have gleaned that information from my visits. Sadly, their deaths were for nothing. I already knew everything I needed to know.”
“And will you now regale me with this information? The full story in regards to how those warriors came to be jailed on Lucent and how your younger brother was involved?”
“Aye, sir. I will.” Goron took a deep breath and prepared to deliver the news. “Two years ago, my younger brother, Burl, learned a handful of stones had been found in the Lucent mines. No more than just a small bag of them were known to exist at that time. Burl and his men used covert means to find themselves a buyer. The buyer was located on Earth and insisted on finalizing a deal to buy them on that planet.” Goron quickly sipped more wine.
“Get on with this story, Goron. I would know all the truth and I am hard for my woman. I do not have all night.”
“Forgive me, sir.” He cleared his throat and proceeded with his tale. “My brother found an ingenious way to smuggle the stones to Earth, so he could meet with his buyer. He entered Electra Galaxy’s Mr. Interstellar Feller competition and asked that his men be allowed to accompany him as his entourage.”
Crus began to chuckle. “This is interesting news. I simply assumed you bribed a miner on Lucent to find out about the stones, but this makes far more sense. Do continue.”
Goron nodded and moved closer to his superior. Men like him mysteriously disappeared all the time, when they dealt with men like Admiral Crus. But he had no choice. He swallowed hard and lowered his voice even though he’d been told there were no listening devices. “Burl knew the security measures in place for all those men entering the pageant were relaxed, my admiral. It was quite easy to get the stones to Earth. Not so easy to find his buyer and make the exchange for the money promised. Somehow, law enforcers found out about the scheme. Burl was confronted by them and eventually killed…murdered to be precise. And his men were incarcerated back on Lucent, where the original theft of the stones took place.”
“Ah! The tale comes full circle. These are the same men who mysteriously died in a shuttle accident, when Lucent’s bureaucrats thought you’d learned too much.”
“That is correct, sir.”
Crus stroked his chin in thought. “You say the law enforcers who caught your brother on Earth murdered him? How came you by that knowledge?”
“While they languished in Lucent’s dungeons, the remainder of my brother’s original crew told me. They said my brother was pushed off a hotel balcony. They said the leader of the law enforcers committed this heinous, cowardly deed—Keir Trask.”
“And what of the other enforcers who helped Trask? You said there were others.”
“Yes, Admiral. The other enforcers were Electra Galaxy, and an Earth Force Protectorate officer named Sagan Carter who later became Keir Trask’s mate. There were also two Mars Constabulary officers named Gilla Eck’nor and Clitus Gart on the mission. There was but one other in the group of enforcers who savagely butchered my brother and imprisoned his men.” Goron took a deep breath as his hands clenched into fists. “That man’s name is Datron Mann. He is now an Oceanus captain. Gilla Eck’nor and Clitus Gart are no longer with Mars Constabulary, but have enlisted with Oceanus Protectorate and are members of Mann’s crew.”
Crus stared in stupefied silence. He shook his head and banged his flagon down on the rock tabletop. “Are you saying Electra Galaxy, the famous, rich owner of the Mr. Interstellar Feller enterprise is actually an Earth Force Protectorate officer? An enforcer herself? Can that possibly be true?”
“It is not only true, sir, but she or someone connected to Earth’s Protectorate actually made it possible for Keir Trask and Datron Mann to enter the same pageant Burl entered. While my brother posed as a male pageant contestant, the men in the enforcer group did the same. The two women, Electra Galaxy and Sagan Carter, simply acted as the enforcers’ contest hostess and personal manager, respectively. Somehow they knew of my brother’s plot all along. The mistake the enforcers made was in leaving Burl’s men alive, arresting them and sending them back to Lucent. But without exposing them to the Lucent Stone dust. With their minds still intact, that crew was able to apprise me of how those stones worked.”
“That makes no sense,” Crus argued as he lifted one hand in confusion. “Why would the enforcers not use mind controlling stones on your brother’s crewmen? Why would they incarcerate them on Lucent with knowledge of the stones existence? They must have known your visits would glean this knowledge.”
“I have a contact on Lucent, sir. It may be that he ordered my brother’s men left alone. For remuneration, many on Lucent would do much,” Goron explained with a surreptitious nod of his head.
Crus stood and began to slowly pace within the small space of the cavern. Then he suddenly sat again and moved his own chair much closer to Goron’s. His interest in his lover, on the other side of the table, had greatly diminished.
“If any of these enforcers become aware of the fact more stones have been discovered…a great deal more…”
“I have that contingency covered, Admiral. I can avenge my brother’s murder as well as silence most of the enforcers who know about the stones. They are the same ones who will likely be sent to recover them,” he advised. “The stones’ existence must remain a secret. The enforcers will do much to keep it so.”
Crus solemnly nodded. “Indeed.”
“In one very organized plan,” Goron told him, “I will not only obtain two full crates of Lucent Stones, I will make sure we are the only entities in the known universe who own any stones at all. It will be so easily done that I can have the entire scheme accomplished in just under one Earth week.”
Crus brought up his hand and made a fist. “We measure everything in Earth time. Our entire existence is governed by what that planet and its bureaucrats inflict upon us!”
“That will all change soon, Admiral. With the stones, anything is possible.”
Crus slammed his fist down on his knee. “You shall have whatever you need from me. And you shall have your revenge for your sibling’s sake. But do not cross me, Goron.”
“Never, my Admiral. I will not make the same mistakes my sibling did. He trusted unwisely. His
men were cowards. They lived and were sent to Lucent’s jails when they should have died fighting for my brother.”
“Then be about your business, quickly. Others could soon learn what we have. We can trust no one in the Empire.”
Goron nodded and smiled broadly. “As you command.”
Chapter Four
Datron spent the better part of the next day trying to drive his pest’s image from his mind.
Cracking a stone melon with her thighs indeed!
He shook his head at the ridiculous imagery, picked up his electronic clipboard, and prepared to make an entry concerning the Valiant’s fuel consumption. As he worked, footsteps sounded behind him. He turned to see his engineer standing at attention. The tall Oceanun had a worried look plastered on his face.
Like all of the planet’s citizens, the Valiant’s engine control officer was extremely tall, green in color, with a blue star on his left cheek. Equally noticeable in his race was the tendency to wear his black hair long, tied at the nape of his neck. The Oceanun’s penchant for such a hairstyle allowed him, as a Valkyrian, to get away with wearing his own blond locks well past shoulder length.
“At ease, man. Is there a problem?” Datron asked.
“Yes sir,” the engineer replied. “There’s a malfunction with one or more of the control gauges, Captain. They’re running hot. I know this should not be the case since I reviewed the fuel mix myself. I’ve checked it three times, yet, the gauges still say the engine will overheat if we hit hyper drive.”
Datron checked the time on his console. “Your shift is almost over. Tell the nightshift chief to run a diagnostic. If there’s an emergency, he can notify me via communicator. I’ll be attending the Miss Milky Way coronation and might not be able to transmit back right away, unless it’s urgent. After that…” he let his voice trail away.
