by John Short
Chapter Eighteen
Jon led Satrina through Leviathan explaining things to her as they went. He told her of the legends and how the Earthlings had supposedly found the ship floating in orbit around their planet, Earth. He explained that the banner, which was actually called a flag, on the front of Leviathan and now on the noses of each of his ships assigned as security vessels, was once the emblem for one country on Earth called the Unites States of America and the history behind the flag. They had found several of the actual flags in one of the storage compartments in the hold of the ship. Each of the flags still folded in their original boxes.
He explained how he'd been out voted when his crew suggested that they use the flag as their own and had several of them mounted in every ship's conference room throughout the entire security fleet. "The crews decided that the fifty stars stood for the colonies we've defended along the rim and the thirteen stripes stand for the different races that make up our crews."
He told the story of how the first humans had used the healing tubes as transfer tubes to keep people alive for cycles at a time, as they stopped to study each planet they discovered in their search for a home. A journey that should have lasted less than a cycle stretched to over ten in part due to their unquenchable thirst for knowledge and their extreme caution throughout the trip.
Apparently Jon's people had not yet discovered all of what the Leviathan had hidden away. According to inventory lists found in the data banks, there was a hanger section that still held ground vehicles of all kinds that had been left onboard when they decided to use Lexonian ground vehicles instead of the ones they had brought from their home world. The reason was, their vehicles used something called internal combustion engines that polluted the environment. Lexonian vehicles were “clean” and did not cause pollution.
He told her of the connection between humans and the ancient race called the Umins and that a genetic marker in their blood made using many Umin devices possible. The swords and his Dragon Ship were just the beginnings of what the marker allowed someone to do that had it. He did not tell her about finding the control room for the planet killing weapons or his inability to activate them. He also did not tell her that he had discovered that he could fly the ship alone without a crew. He did not want her to worry about him one day taking off in this massive ship without her by his side. He would never be parted from her as long as he lived now that he finally had her safely with him again.
When they arrived at the hatch leading to the data room and Jon rang a buzzer mounted beside it.
“Who is there?” a voice from inside asked.
“Admiral Connell and guest.” Jon replied. “You called me, may I enter?” Looking to Satrina he shrugged his shoulders and said. “Apparently there are some places even an admiral cannot go without permission. Even on his own ship.”
“I think that's strange, seeing how weak this hatch appears and how strong you are, I would think a good hit...” Satrina said with a grin.
“Shhh... Don’t tell them that. They think they are safely hidden behind their pretend door.”
The door swung open and the face of the head data collector greeted them, “I heard that, and I dare you to try to knock down our pretend door. Sir! Come in, you and the Princess are always welcome in the data lab.”
“Data Master,” Satrina smiled and offered her hand to the tall thin male, “On this ship I am Princess only to my giant and he is a giant only to me. Please, call me Satrina. Maybe make me one of those names you say are call signs.”
“Yes ma'am. call Signs are only given out by the Warriors but I can remember to just use Satrina. It’s a very pretty name for a very beautiful female. Not to mention the Bosses mate. Follow me please, my office is over here.” Leading them both across the center's floor where his team of computer experts were busy searching for the latest information on the pirates and those special projects that Jon had them working on, he opened a door and motioned for them to take seats as he went to sit behind his desk.
“As you are aware Admiral, we were working to find out who U'Lanto was and our findings verify what the King and your mate have told you. He is the Regent.
We also retrieved the data from each of the pirate ships we've captured and currently have in our hangers. Their codes were hard to break, but once we had one the others were easy. What we learned has us worried. There were not four ships to have the city killing weapons mounted to their bottoms. There were six ships. We have four of them, that leaves two more out there somewhere. The good news is, the two remaining ships are cargo boats and not Warships. So they should be easy to capture or destroy depending on how you want to proceed.
When you captured the yacht Boss King arrived in, we went to work on its data. It was the hardest one to crack, but we finally got it and we found the two missing ships. One is in orbit at Canari Prime, the other is sitting at Lexon Station. The one at Canari Prime is either loading or unloading cargo. Probably both as that is the largest producer for the Lustor Drug and these people were deep into the distribution and sale of the drug to the pleasure houses and the street pimps who use addicted females for profit after the houses finish with them.
We have not found any information on the sixth ship or why its been just sitting at the station for over a cycle now. We're still working on that one. The blockades surrounding it are twisted among accounts that lead back to deceased members of TransCo's board of directors. We found a manually triggered com message that Boss King had been sending out everyday. The ship at Lexon Station is receiving the message. No reply is sent to acknowledge the message. We're still reading the data, there is a lot in the files that is pure junk, but to find the good we have to look through the bad. Sometimes the bad becomes good once we find the clues to what is really there. We found one entire vid that appears to be nothing more than a pervert attacking a young female, but hidden under the vid there was a list of all the drug dealers selling Lustor on three planets.
We have had that yacht in our hanger for sometime now and that message hasn't been sent. I'll need to talk to Boss King to find out what the message is for and what happens if it isn't sent out on time.”
“Make sure you take a Healer with you to give him a shot of that truth drug Tiaz taught you about and a few of the Special Troops so he can't overpower you and get loose on the ship.” Jon instructed the Data Master. “Anything else?”
“Yes sir there is. If Tiaz is staying on the ship, I'd like to have her assigned to us. She has been a big help in getting past blockades and encrypted files.”
“I'll see what can be done. She has a job already with the Order of Mourners.” Jon told him. “I'll ask her personally though and see if she agrees.”
Leaving the data room with a disk containing all the current information on the two remaining ships with the city killer weapons, Jon turned to Satrina and told her, “I have to go up to the Command Bridge. Come with me?” he asked her. “I want the crew to get used to seeing us together. At some point you'll have as much authority on this ship as I do. As my mate, you already own half of it and everything else that carries my name. They need to understand that I will be trusting you to lead them just as they trust me now.”
“If that is your wish, then I will go and meet your crew, Admiral.” She teased as she came to attention before placing a tiny fist to her chest and bowing to him. Jon responded by lifting her up and kissing her passionately.
“I love you my tiny tigress” Jon whispered in her ear. “If you like it we can use that as your call sign.”
“I love you back my giant. Tiny tigress is much better than Bar-rat. I'll wear my new call sign with pride.” she whispered to him and kissed him again. The taste of him spread through her and filled her senses to overflowing. Soon she would open her womb to his seed and let his child grow within her. With every union between them, it was getting more and more difficult for her to remain closed. She wanted his offspring nearly as much as she wanted him to give them to her. She had al
ready made up her mind that once her father and brother were both back on Lexon II, she would open herself to her giant. Then if he wanted to stay here on this city of a ship, she would raise their offspring here also. Wherever he was, that is where she wanted to be also.
Turning a corner, they walked onto the command bridge. The flurry of activity concerned Jon. Things up here were usually handled in a much calmer way, but this scene was more akin to an anthill that had been kicked apart than his ship's bridge. Reaching out to stop the first person that hurried past Jon asked, “What's going on?”
“Data just sent up the results of a long range scan. It looks like we're going to have company soon. Six ships will be coming out of the slip just a few sectors from us. We are busy preparing the ship in case we are forced into battle.”
“Can you show me on the holo?” Jon asked.
“The Commander has it up now sir, just go to the table and you'll see.”
“Thanks.” He released the man to continue with whatever he was hurrying off to accomplish. “Rina, come with me, I'll show you another of Leviathan's miracles.” Taking Satrina over to the command table, Jon showed her the holoimage of the space around them. Coming in from one corner somewhere below them were six very large, very fast moving ships.
“Defenses active.” Jon ordered. “Don't kill anyone. Let's just see what they want, we did kidnap their King and the Prince. Use that beam you showed me that shuts everything down on their ships if they start shooting. Then change our ident signal and jump away from here. Give me five good jumps each under a different signal. Then turn the signal off and jump three more times. We have to work our way back to Lexon II to drop the Royals off anyway.”
Several levels down, the Data Master had just finished with Boss King. They had to use far more than the recommended amount of the truth drug on him before he finally told them of his insurance policy. The ship in orbit around Lexon II had orders to bomb the King's Palace if his signal did not transmit twice a day, everyday except when it was in the slipway. That gave Jon exactly three hours before the first signal was due considering the slip time from where they had picked up Boss King and his return to Lexon II. Add two more days if he was heading for Haven. They had not managed to find out his planned destination before the drugs turned the male's brain to mush.
He was nothing more than a vegetable now and would never recover. The kindest thing to do would be to shoot him and end his misery. A part of his mind would always function and be aware of what had happened to him, but the rest of his brain was destroyed and his body could not respond to his mind's commands. His life now would be far worse than the lives of the countless females he had gotten hooked on the Lustor Drug. At least they had a chance for recovery even though the temptation would always be with them to use the drug again. The was no recovery now for Boss King.
The guards took Boss King back to the room where his offspring and the Regent were being held and tossed what was left of the once ruthless male inside and then they locked the door sealing him in with them. The first thing that happened as he lay on the floor was that his bladder emptied causing a large wet spot to appear on the front of his expensive coverings.
“Well, that takes care of that problem.” the Regent said with a grin. “He won't be telling anybody anything.”
“No, he won't, but that don't mean I won't. Unless of course you want to make a deal with me.” Helios King told the Regent.
“I don't need you for anything youngling. Not when over a third of the Palace Guard and another third of the Peacekeeper's Command are already in my pay.” The Regent leaned back against a wall and grinned down at the now ruined Devilous King. “This is going much better than I ever planned. Soon I'll have both the throne and the Princess to do with as I please.”
“That's what you think. Father put everything in my name so nothing could lead back to him in case you ever decided to double cross him. Guess whose name its all in now? Oh yeah and then there is a stash of data I have on all your schemes and tricks. It’s a nasty thing to plot the takeover of the Lexon throne. Is it still the only crime on Lexon II punished by death?” Helios sneered at the Regent. “I want the same deal you gave father plus a nice fat reward for bringing him to justice or I release the information that you own the biggest Lustor producing farm in the galaxy. I'll hang on to the evidence of treason until I really need it once you’re the King.”
What neither of the males locked up in a special cabin knew was that their every word and action was still being recorded and the case against them both kept growing. Once alerted to a file containing information on the Regents corruption, teams from the Data Center's Special unit went to work searching through everything they could find among the records of Helios King. The foolish youth had not covered his tracks very well. In under an hour the Data teams had broken into his private accounts and knew all about the Regents schemes to takeover the Lexonian throne going as far back as his part in having his own sister expelled from the Palace.
The King and Gala finally found their way to the command bridge and stood in the entry, spell bound by the flurry of activity in front of them. Every person not already working at one of the stations rushed from station to station, updating information and issuing orders. The King's gaze traveled over the bridge and he took it all in. The solid walls of computer banks and screens, the large view screen directly in front of him and the command table in the center of it all with Jon Connell standing there gazing at something and issuing orders like a true leader of men should. Satrina stood by his side and she also was absorbed by whatever the table was showing them. Carefully walking over to them he remained quiet and listened as Jon said,
“This could end badly. The Data Section just uncovered that the Regent has at least four Peacekeeper Generals in his pocket. The Generals never show up if a battle is planned. They stay back at their headquarters and order other troops in to die.”
“What will you do Jon?” Satrina asked. “If they are only acting under the orders of one of my uncle's corrupt men, they are innocent of everything except being good Warriors.”
“I know. If they were acting on their own or as pirates, it would be easy. Leviathan would simply brush them away like the sand flies they are. However, until I have more information I must wait and see why four ships that appear to be battle cruisers are approaching us when they're not supposed to be able to lock onto this ship's ident.
“Its not Leviathan's ident signal sir,” the Data Master informed him as he walked onto the bridge. “It’s coming from the Yacht we captured. Another of that ships defense systems in the case of trouble. We must have missed it when we swept the ship and pulled its data. We've shut it down and the three others we found. If it has any more, our best plan is to have it fly itself into a nearby sun.”
“Maybe I'll send a couple of passengers along with it.” Jon muttered through his anger. That strange, smoky image of a dragon slowly started to appear at his back and Satrina lightly touched his arm to calm him. Much to the surprise of the King who had never seen the image before, the image faded as soon as Jon felt her touch.
“Thanks Data, what else brought you to the bridge?” Satrina calmly asked.
“Ma'am, we found out about that ship in orbit around Lexon II. Its been receiving a signal from the yacht for days, but once that signal stopped, it had orders to attack the Palace. Estimates say we have less than three hours to stop it.”
“Nav!” Jon yelled, “Plot course to Lexon II. Jump us in close this time. We can't afford to play nice with these pirates or the foolishness of the news about Warships near Lexon II! Touching his COM badge Jon called out “Jackal, mount up, full fighter and attack shuttle launches when we come out of jump. I'll send you the info on your target. It’s another of the TransCo city killers. This one is on a cargo ship and pointed at the Palace.”
“I'm on it Admiral.” came the reply from Jarrieal. “Oh, Admiral, Little Prik wants to know if he can go play with the pirates?”
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br /> “If the Healers says its OK, let him go. Make sure you get him fitted for proper armor. I will not have him getting himself killed again!” Jon kidded, knowing full well that his friend could hear him.
“He will not be harmed Admiral.” Jelio commed. Looking down at Satrina, Jon shrugged.
“I think my brother may have a mate.” she remarked.
“Well, it's about time.” the King declared so only his sister could hear. “Maybe he'll stop running off to be a warrior and stay home to be the Prince.”
“We're being commed sir.” Jon was told. “Says he is the Admiral of the Peacekeeper task force that just exited the slip.”
"How soon before they are in range?" Jon asked.
“Let me handle this, son.” the King told Jon. Seeing the King on the bridge for the first time, Jon nodded to him and stepped away from the command table. “Can they hear me?” he asked.
“Yes Sire, just speak naturally and they will hear you.” Jon told him as the Peacekeeper battle cruisers became larger on the screen.
“This is King Le'puix of the Lexonian Confederation. On whose authority are you here?”
“We are on orders from the Admiralty. If that really is the King, we are here to rescue you from the pirates that swept in and kidnapped you from the Palace.” A voice on the COM told him. “Are you in command of that ship?”
“No. This ship is not under my command. I am a welcomed guest on it.” Looking over at Jon and Satrina he winked at them before continuing, “This ship is under the command of Princess Satrina and her mate!”
“Sire, that is not possible, her body was identified among the dead at Sanctuary.”
