by L. Fergus
“Is that why you keep the Shadow Fleet quarantined? Because they know the truth?”
“The truth is what I say it is.”
“Kita will destroy you, and I will help her.”
Galina laughed. “Just like you to give in when the going gets tough. Your other Angels will learn soon enough who Sarin really is—just an alcoholic, drug addict, sexual deviant who can’t stand to look at herself in the mirror. Imagine Kita’s response when she finds you that way…again.”
“You’re wrong. I’m not like that anymore. Where are the other Angels?”
“Finding ways to be useful. Scarlett and your new Angels offered their services for science to atone for their betrayal. Talli is returning to me for a mother-daughter reunion. My techs are decoding Athena. See what your leadership has brought, Jane?”
“I’ll rescue them if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Listen to you, sounding like such the hero. Better to leave such chest thumping to Kita. And, you’re not going anywhere. That gas you sucked down contained a nanite that when activated can render Angels immobile.”
Sarin shook her head. “There is no way you could develop such a thing. You don’t know Angels well enough.”
“But I have someone who does. Megan has been more than happy to develop a nice anti-Angel arsenal for me.”
“She would never—”
“Oh, but she would. She’s never forgiven Kita for what she did to the Arconians. Between her and Lina, I’ve brought the Empire a bounty of riches.”
“Lina…What have you done to Lina?” Sarin gasped.
“She is still a mystery, but in good hands. We’ll understand her power soon enough.”
“Maybe something you’re not meant to know. Secrets best left to Kita.”
“Never. Kita was an arrogant, wicked, backstabbing bitch who used others and got lucky. Anything she can do, I can do better. I’ve proven it. I beat her back on that planet, and if she shows up here, I’ll beat her again.”
“Touchy. Then you must really be upset over Rene picking Kita over you.”
“Rene is dead. She died a hero trying to stop Kita.”
“That’s not what I heard. Sheppard begged to die, and Kita wouldn’t kill her. Instead, she was made an Angel again and is serving Kita loyally.”
“RENE IS DEAD!” Galina screamed as she slammed her fist on the desk.
“The lies we tell ourselves, so we don’t have to see the truth. Here are two truths for you, Kita is coming for you, and if you harm Lina, I will kill you myself.”
Galina laughed direly. “You are going to be nothing more than a drooling mess on the floor. And Kita, I will enjoy killing and stripping her secrets from her.”
“You won’t touch her.”
“You still think you love her? She never loved you. You were just a toy…just like the rest of them. You meant nothing to her, just a way to fill her carnal pleasures.”
Sarin glared at the image in front of her. “Then if that’s all I was to her, then what were you? She refused to touch you, to give you what you wanted…What do you suppose you were to her if you weren’t even worth her time? You whored yourself to her, and she slapped you down while you begged for more. You call me an addict, but you’re addicted. You can’t get enough of Kita, and she hates you.”
“She loves me!” Galina screamed. She reached into her desk and pulled out a panel. “Those nanites do more than just immobilize.” She touched the panel, and Sarin shrieked. “I’ll kill you, and Kita will have no one but me.”
Sarin balled her fists and her body tensed against the pain that radiated from her blood. “What about Snowy…Roo…Vee…Amber…Raptor…Tiffany…Emma…She loved them all and never rejected any of them…”
Galina snarled and tapped on the pad, sliding her finger from the bottom to the top. Sarin convulsed and fell to her knees. Tears filled her eyes as the pain coursed through her body. Her breathes came in short gasps, as she couldn’t catch her breath due to the muscle spasms in her chest.
“…She only rejected you…”
Galina slammed the panel on the desk and struck it with her fist. Sarin convulsed, and she collapsed to the floor. Rolling over, she looked at the ceiling for a moment and then closed her eyes feeling no pain. So, this is what it’s like to die. I expected more, but Kita was right, it’s just blackness. She’s always right.
Sarin’s eyes fluttered open and saw the same white ceiling. She floated from the floor to her feet. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and changed from her angelic form to her god form.
“It’s not possible!” Galina screamed her voice cracking.
“Do you think Kita would just leave me with nothing?” Sarin said her voice pleasant and regal. “Or was surprised by your betrayal? You’re not as clever as you think. She saw it coming. Though she could do nothing to stop it, she did prepare for it. I am Edi’rp, the God of Pride. You’ve succumbed to the sin of pride for a long time. It is my job to prepare for Li’ve’s arrival. Revenge is hers to take, but the line, I’m sure, is long.”
Galina sat, her mouth hanging open.
Sarin changed back to her angelic form, now wearing her black and red schoolgirl outfit with her pistols strapped to her legs. Behind her, the door opened.
“The cavalry has arrived,” Sarin cooed.
A Marine and a sailor, both armed with rifles, entered. Sarin turned to face them. Galina’s image vanished.
“Who are you?” said Sarin.
“Gunnery Sergeant Rodriguez and Chief Davis, Child of the Emperor,” said Rodriguez. “We’re here to rescue you.”
“Thank you,” said Sarin, giving them a dazzling smile. “Can you bring me up to speed on what’s going on?”
“Four hours ago you and three other Angels were brought aboard by the Political Bureau thugs. We’ve been working out since then how best to rescue you.”
“But why?” said Sarin.
Rodriguez and Davis exchanged glances. “Standing orders by the princess. All Angels are to be helped if they need it,” said Davis. “And the four of you looked like you need help. The enlisted haven’t liked what the Political Bureau has been doing or how they’ve been treating us. They took away our officers and replaced them with their own. They’ve been keeping us in quarantine for fear we might bring home some alien disease since we got back, but they’ve kept us in an information vacuum. We have no idea what’s happening on Earth.”
“Sorry,” said Sarin. “The Political Bureau has tried to remove the Legion from their positions and has subjugated the Shadow Fleet for their use. We’ve been out on the frontier for the last two years fighting them, and we haven’t spoken to the princess in a long time.” The explanation seemed to satisfy the pair. “Out of curiosity, how’d you know we were in trouble if the Political Bureau had us?”
“You were heavily restrained and unconscious. That is no way to treat Children of the Emperor,” said Rodriguez. “A while later they snuck in a bunch of the fleets’ former captains through a maintenance airlock. We guessed you’d come to reinstate the captains. It looks like the Political Bureau didn’t like it.”
“The Political Bureau has been up to some real shady dealings lately around the fleet,” added Davis.
“You’re not wrong, but you took a big risk,” said Sarin. “We did come to return the captains to their posts. Command General Lyakhova led a coup to take over when the Emperor died. They’ve put a puppet emperor on the throne and have told the outside world the princess was killed by the aliens when you were sent to save her.”
“But that’s not true,” said Davis. “She and Admiral Sheppard stayed aboard Enterprise in alien space to secure a treaty with them.”
“The Angels don’t believe she’s dead, and we oppose General Lyakhova. We want to set things right, and that starts by freeing the Shadow Fleet and letting it do its job, protecting the Imperium.”
“Anything you say will supersede the Political Bureau’s orders in the minds of the cre
w,” said Rodriguez.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” said Sarin. “We need to rescue the other Angels and the captains. There should have been four Angels with me, and did they take something to a lab?”
“There were only Angels with brownish orange and cream-colored wings, cinnamon-colored wings, and wings the color of a sunset.”
“Damn.”
“I’ll check with our contacts to see if the Political Bureau took anything to their area,” said Davis. He tapped on his Arcom. “Grayson says the Blackshirts’ lab has been buzzing about something.”
“I just got word from Frazer,” said Rodriguez. “They sprung the other Angels from the Political Bureau. They had them in surgery for some reason.”
“I can guess why,” said Sarin. “Ok, we need to hurry. They gave us some nanites that can kill us. I’ve got to get to them before they have a chance to activate them.”
“Frazer said they’re moving toward the maintenance hangars. Doesn’t sound like the Political Bureau is organized.”
“Yet,” said Sarin. “They will be. What ship are we aboard?”
“Ticonderoga,” said Davis.
“Good. Let’s go.”
The sound of gunfire erupted from the door to the maintenance hangar as Davis opened it. A platoon of Political Bureau soldiers in heavy armor were firing on a fighter in the corner. Sarin drew her pistols and fired on the soldiers. She hit six in the head, her large caliber blasting through their face shields. Nearby soldiers turned toward the new threat. Sarin grabbed Rodriguez and Davis, phased them behind the fighter.
Six Marines with pistols and rifles were hunkered down taking cover. Talon and Ryder lay on the ground wrapped in sheets. Talon’s hands were wrapped in bloody bandages. Big bloody spots covered Ryder’s sheet. Cinnamon was naked covered in different types of burns.
“What happened?” said Sarin.
“They cut off Scarlett’s talons,” said Cinnamon.
Sarin covered her mouth to hide her shock. “Neptune’s rings, red, I’m sorry.”
“I’ll be fine,” said Talon, her voice shaky and shallow.
“What happened to you?” Sarin said to Cinnamon.
“They decided to experiment and see how much heat I could take and what else burned me.”
“I’ll strangle Galina with my bare hands.”
“Save some for me.”
“Is Ryder awake?”
“No, she’s out.”
“Child, this is Gunnery Sergeant Frazer and his squad of mechanics,” said Davis. “I don’t suppose you can teleport us out of here?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” said Sarin. “It’s time we go on the offensive and let these goons know who’s in charge.”
“I know every Marine is a rifleman, but we’re just clerks and mechanics.”
“You don’t worry about that,” said Sarin. “Just cover us.”
“They can’t fight in their condition,” said Frazer.
“We’re bad girls, Marine, fighting is what we do.”
“We live fast,” said Cinnamon.
“And die hard,” said Talon.
Sarin touched the three Angels, and they blinked out of existence. They reappeared healed and clothed.
“Hot damn,” said Cinnamon. She backflipped in the air and burst into flame. A few bullets hit the ceiling above her. She lobbed a pair of fireballs in response.
“By the Emperor!” said one of the Marines.
Cinnamon gave him a flirty wink.
“You’re in for a show, Marines,” said Ryder. She burst into flame, burning her skin and feathers away, leaving a burning skeletal demon Angel cowboy.
“Mother of God,” whispered Davis.
Ryder laughed, stepped from behind the fighter, drew her revolvers, twirled them, and fired until her cylinders were empty.
Talon opened her cloak and pulled out her short sword and her pistol. She hopped over the fighter and hooted as The Rider reloaded. The sonic assault stunned the soldiers. She jumped into the air and glided into the middle of the soldiers’ line, capturing two soldiers around the neck with the talons on her feet.
Cinnamon followed, throwing fireballs at the stunned soldiers. She landed in front of a group and blasted them with a lance of flame.
When Sarin stood, Davis grabbed her arm. “I think this message is for you.” He held up his Arcom. A message read, “Show this to Sarin.”
“Athena?”
“Hello, Mom.”
“Where are you? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m in the Political Bureau workshop. They’re trying to access my main kernel, but all they’ve done is allowed me access to the ship. I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Sorry for what?” said Sarin.
“For not detecting the shadow network the Political Bureau was using when they captured us. I…forgot to look.”
“It happens. We’re all ok.”
“Yes, I’ve started to broadcast you and the fight to the rest of the fleet in hopes of stirring unrest.”
“Good idea. We need to get to the captains and have them put out a message saying the Political Bureau is illegitimate.”
“I’m searching for them now.”
“Let me know when you find them.”
“Yes, Mom.”
Sarin let Davis have his arm back. “Is that the other Angel you were looking for?”
Sarin shook her head. “No. The girl I’m looking for has seafoam-green colored wings—”
“We saw her. They loaded her aboard a shuttle that took her aboard Venus. Rumor has it she’s going to Earth.”
“I have confirmed this, Mom,” said Athena.
Davis’ eyebrows closed in confusion.
“That was Athena. She’s an AI Angel. You’ll understand when you meet her. Now, cover the entrances. We’ll clear out this goon squad.”
Sarin rolled out from cover but found she had nothing to do. The other Angels had wiped out the platoon. She walked over where the Angels were examining one of the soldiers. Along the way, she put a bullet in the heads of a few soldiers who were taking their time to die.
“What do you have?”
“These guys have augmentations. In this case, they’ve replaced his arms,” said Talon.
Sarin looked at the mess of synthetic material, some of it melted together. “Nowhere near as good as my step-daughter Arial, but I guess they have to start somewhere.”
They checked the other bodies but found no other augmentations.
“Do you suppose he’s just the first?” said Cinnamon.
“Probably,” said Sarin. “Galina bragged about having an army and had a set of new arms herself.”
“I didn’t think her vanity would allow that,” said Talon.
“I think whatever Kita did to her face has given her a new sense of beauty.”
Davis jogged over to the Angels. “Your other Angel is back…”
“Yes, Athena?” said Sarin.
“I’ve found the captains in the forward airlock area. It looks like they’re about to be executed.”
“Don’t let that happen.”
“I’ll do my best to make sure the airlock malfunctions, but I can’t stop a bullet.”
“We’re on our way.” Sarin looked at Davis, “Do you know how to get there?”
“Yeah, I even know a shortcut.”
“Mom, you must hurry,” said Athena.
“We’re running as fast as we can. Wings and airtight doors don’t mix.”
“Are you saying you’re more a peacock than a goshawk?”
“Ha-ha, very funny.”
The door swung open with a bang into the airlock area. Admiral Hackett stood against a wall facing a firing squad. Sarin drew her pistols and fired, sending a bullet through the line of eight heads of the soldiers on the firing line. Behind her, Talon dove through the door, rolled to her knees under Sarin’s arms and threw two knives into the throats of a pair of guards watching a group of eight more captains. Cinnamon and R
yder stepped up behind Sarin and killed the four guards watching from the corners.
“Admiral Hackett, are you all right?” said Sarin as she rushed up to him. She snapped the plastic tie holding his hands behind his back.
“Angel Sarin is that you?” Hackett said slipping the blindfold off his head.
“It looks like we’re just in time. We need to get a message out to the fleet stating that you’re back in charge, that all orders from the Political Bureau are illegal, and they’re to be detained.”
“Yes, we can’t let the fleet descend into anarchy. My uniform is in the detention area. I—” Sarin snapped her fingers and he and the other captains were dressed in their parade uniforms. “How?”
“Secret,” said Sarin. “If I get the princess’ permission I’ll tell you. Athena, are you ready?”
“And waiting. The camera is to your left, above the airlock door,” she said over the ship’s PA system.
“Another Angel?” said Hackett.
“Yes, a very special one.” Sarin guided him where to stand and moved the rest of the captains to stand behind him. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Hackett took a breath and stood at attention. A screen on the wall across from him showed the video feed.
“Sailors, Marines, and legionnaires of Shadow Fleet task force one-six-eight, we now have official orders from the princess, delivered by her very own personal guard, the Angels. They have brought word and evidence of treachery on Earth. Our glorious Emperor has died, and instead of power passing to Princess Bush, a usurper from the Political Bureau has seized power. As of this moment, myself and the other captains of the Shadow Fleet are reinstated by order of the princess. The Political Bureau is to cease all operations, lay down all arms, open all areas, and stand down. If you do not comply, we will use force.
“Sailors, Marines, and legionnaires, we must do our sworn sacred duty to defend the Imperium and the Emperor. All hail the Emperor, Casey Bush.”
“And now pandemonium,” said Cinnamon.
“I have begun locking doors and trapping Political Bureau soldiers in rooms and corridors,” said Athena. “With the admiral’s permission, I will reach out to the rest of the fleet and do my best to help.”
