by Jay Toney
"She is going to be very beautiful when she grows up," Demeter said. "She will be as beautiful as Demi, maybe more so."
"Yes, and a powerful demigod." Athena created a statue of Selena grown to a young lady. "I will have to design a special dress for her, one that will compliment the beauty of the full moon."
Maybe, just maybe, Selena was what I needed to keep the pair busy and away from me.
"Nathaniel don't forget to take your statue with you. I don't have room for any of your stuff here. Miranda and I need the space. We have wounded on the way."
The Chameleon's Head
Copernicus had the same mix of metal, minerals, water, and life that most colonized planets had. It was unremarkable in all but one way. The planet had an abundant supply of natural gas below its surface and its oceans. The Alliance was using the planet's supply of natural gas to fuel their ships.
After defeating the Alliance, we also used the planet's resources to fill our fuel and water tanks. There were two differences in how we used the planet for its resources; the first was that we were invited guests, not conquers. The second was that we were not here to stay permanently. Our stay would only last a few weeks, long enough for repairs; then we would be gone.
We were able to recover all of our downed pilots. They only sustained minor injuries. Most of the pilots were back on their feet, recovering. The rest would be in a short time.
Mike and his crew recovered all of our damaged fighters and were working on repairing them. The downed Alliance fighters were repairable, but not worth the effort of upgrading them. He left them to the planet's people so they could repair them and use them for their own defense.
Selena's statue decorated my quarters, placed next to the Tsurani singing suns. As a work of art, the statue was pleasant to look at. The fact that the statue was a nude resemblance of my daughter, grown up, gave me feelings of guilt when I looked at it, admiring its beauty.
It wasn't naked for long. Each day gifts appeared and adorned the statue. It started with shoes. They were small, but large enough to fit Selena's feet when she grew up. They looked like they were made of tiny diamonds and sparkled in the light.
Athena added a white dress to the statue, thankfully clothing it. The dress was made of very fine gossamer thread, extremely light and delicate. Either Athena had been collecting Arachne's webs for a long time, or Arachne was working overtime to produce the thread needed for the dress. It reflected the light, matching the shoes.
Those were not the only gifts. Bracers were added to her arms. The statue now carried a sword, a shield, and a tiara sat on her head. Other gifts lay around her at her feet as well.
"The gods have seen Selena's likeness and approve," Athena remarked.
"Yes, but it is easy to see that she does not have Amber's or Nathaniel's likeness. Selena's hair is as white as snow, and her eyes silver," Demeter observed.
"We will have to make a few changes."
"To Amber?"
"No, she suffers enough. Nathaniel carries the dominant genes. We will have to change him."
I didn't like the sound of that. In fact, it scared the hell out of me. I didn't know what they wanted to change and didn't care. I had already been modified enough.
"They are right. One look at you and the gods will know that you are not her father."
"Some of the gods have already seen me."
"They will not tell Zeus or Hera. It is the others that I am worried about."
"Persephone?"
"I know what must be done, mother. I will alter every likeness of him, his medical records, and the memories of all who have seen him," Persephone vanished to begin her work.
That left me alone with Demeter and Athena. Facing Hades would be much easier and less deadly.
"We will start with his hair. It must be turned white to match his daughters."
Bleaching the hair on my head didn't sound too bad. Jewel had it done to her once and didn't suffer during the process. I agreed to it without an argument.
"Did we say just the hair on your head? I think not. We have to turn every hair on your body white and change your DNA, so it stays so."
I didn't like the sound of that. Before I could do anything, my clothes vanished, and I was left naked before the two women. The fact that they were beautiful, and looked youthful didn't help. They laughed, and inwardly I cringed.
They touched every part of my body, changing both my hair color and the DNA I carried in my genes. It wasn't so much painful as it was humiliating. No part of my body was left untouched. After finishing, they stood back to admire their work.
"The eyes, don't forget the eyes," Athena reminded Demeter.
"He has entirely too much hair on his body."
"Yes, it makes him look old, too old to be Selena's father. It must be removed, so he looks more youthful."
I didn't like the sound of that. With these two, it scared me enough to turn my hair white. I didn't need their magic.
Demeter and Athena took great care to humiliate me; it worked. There was no escaping whatever Demeter and Athena had in their plans for me. I had seen Amber and Jewel use depilatory creams to remove unwanted hair. Once, I mistakenly used some of their cream thinking it was skin lotion. Not only did it remove my facial hair, but I also didn't need to shave for weeks. At least what Demeter and Athena had planned for me would be painless.
"Amber and Jewel have plenty of hair removal creams and gels in our bathroom."
"That won't be necessary, I find the old ways still work best," Demeter said producing a jar of hair removal wax. "I promise it will only hurt a little bit."
It hurt like hell. I am not ashamed to admit that I did quite a bit of screaming. Unfortunately, my suffering had the undesirable effect of turning the ladies on.
"It has been a long time since anyone has lain with me like a mortal woman. Zeus was the only to do so. That was long before my daughter was born."
"It has been nearly as long for me."
"No! Absolutely not. Besides you think that what Persephone and I do is disgusting."
"Disgusting, yes, and exciting. You look exotic and youthful now, we can't resist such a treat," Demeter said.
"Don't worry, you won't remember a thing," Athena promised.
****
Every time I looked in a mirror, I was shocked. My reflection was that of a stranger, a young teen of perhaps seventeen, not my 30 years of age. I looked strange with silver eyes and white hair, not like an albino, just exotic. My skin was sensitive where my body hair was removed; it tingled. The crew and officers that I passed didn't seem to notice the change. To them, I looked like I always had.
At least once a week I used Jewels and Amber's depilatory creams to make sure I had no body hair. Demeter promised that she and Athena would be checking to make sure I maintained my youthful appearance. One waxing from them was enough to ensure that I kept my youthful looks. Amber enjoyed helping and teasing me in the shower. She was back to her old self now that Selena was born. She liked the new clean me; except for the hair on my head and my eyebrows, I didn't have a single hair on my body.
Amber stayed below with the children, helping Tammy and Daphne take care of them. Our children were walking and sort of talking, (saying a few words), and had to be constantly watched, especially Demi who was turning seven and took every opportunity to get into trouble. She was just like me.
Jewel, Persephone, and I rode our private elevator up to the bridge. Nugget didn't notice any change in my appearance, but Astrea did. She gasped when she saw the changes to my appearance. She would be even further surprised if she were to see that the changes continued beneath my clothing. What was done to me was private. Too many people, other than Amber, Jewel, and Persephone already knew about the changes done to me. I didn't want anyone else seeing them.
"Persephone, did you get a course heading on the destroyer that fled from the battle?"
"I did. I analyzed its trajectory and searched our star map for its most likely
destination. The nearest star it could jump to on its trajectory is Epsilon Chamaeleontis." Persephone brought up the star map on our viewscreen, highlighting our current location and our destination. It was close to us.
"Jewel, advise the fleet of our new course. Have everyone go to combat readiness when we exit hyperspace. Any ship later than one minute, bringing their shields and weapons online misses out on our next shore leave to practice."
"Are you expecting trouble?" Nugget asked.
"If the Alliance isn't waiting for us there it would qualify as a miracle. I've pushed my luck beyond its limits. Payment is past due. They will be there waiting for us. Break orbit and enter hyperspace as soon as we are clear."
****
"Daddy, are we going flying today?"
"No sweetheart. We only have a few hours before we come out of hyperspace. Everyone will be busy. I expect we will have our biggest battle yet. As soon as I get some time, I will make it up to you. I promise."
"But, it's my birthday."
"Happy birthday to you, your brothers, and sisters. We have just enough time for birthday cake, ice-cream, and presents."
"We have presents?"
"Of course, all of you have presents. What birthday party would be complete without them?"
****
We came out of hyperspace. The star system had another blue/white dwarf sun shining bright, ahead of us.
"Jewel, sound condition yellow.
Persephone, get our shields up and bulkhead doors sealed."
Jazz was the first to have his shields raised. I wasn't going to be the last. Mike, Red, and Beverly reported their readiness, in less than a minute. The threat of doing drills while everyone else was enjoying shore leave was enough to motivate the crews to work fast and hard. Word had gotten out about Jazz's example and my letting him do it. No one wanted to face their ship's captain in a duel. We all had reputations of being fierce fighters.
Persephone anticipated my next request, she split our forward view with our tactical screen. A single red icon showed where the Alliance fleet was located. We were too far away to identify the ships we would be facing or how many thee were. Nugget changed course, putting us on an intercept course.
The Alliance fleet wasn't near any planetary body. They were in deep space waiting for us. The wait wouldn't be a long one.
"Jewel, have the fleet proceed at flank speed."
Our ships accelerated to .4c. There was no way the Alliance fleet could outrun us with their sublight engines. If they were smart, they would escape to hyperspace. Two of their ships did. We still would be facing a formidable fleet.
At the halfway point we began decelerating, as hard as we accelerated towards the enemy fleet. The single red icon became a cluster of icons, each with the ship class, speed, and heading. Two lines appeared between our icons. The first was for missile range, the second for energy weapons.
Beverly took the lead position with her ship, the Valkyrie. Red and Jazz followed behind her. Mike and I stayed in the rear. Both of our ships were shielded, and my ship had defensive weapons that could be used to fight off small ships like gunboats, fighters, and transport shuttles.
It was time to deploy our fighters. My ship had two squadrons of fighters, replacing half of our shuttlecraft. They would be tasked with defending the fleet. Red and Beverly launched their fighters. We had nearly 90 ships; Vipers, Marauders, and Keshian fighters heading towards the enemy fleet. In the last battle, we were close to being evenly matched. In the oncoming battle, we would be outnumbered 2:1.
Persephone and I teleported to the shuttle bay, leaving our ship in Nugget's capable hands. We changed into our flight suits and helmets, then took our seats. I used my neurochip to link up with the fighter this time. The ship's AI started the engines and ran through a quick preflight check. All systems were green. The fighter taxied to the ready line and took off.
I used the manual controls, enjoying the feeling of flight. The ship banked and turned heading towards the Alliance fleet. We were behind are other fighters but wouldn't be for long. I pushed the throttles forward and the fighter shot forward, racing to pass our other fighters.
"Can I fly now?"
Demi held her ticket out to us. It was good for one flight with us, one of her birthday presents. Damn my luck. I would have to turn back.
"Don't even think of turning around!"
Persephone unstrapped herself and got out of her seat. She took the seat behind me and started manually assigning targets.
"Our daughter is a goddess. You will treat her like one.
Demi, take my seat.
Nathaniel, you gave her a pass that would allow her to fly with us, I suggest you honor it."
There was no arguing with Persephone. If I did, I would find myself sleeping alone on the couch again. I would do anything to prevent that. Amber and Jewel would deny me their company if I screwed up and got kicked out of what used to be my bed and was now Persephone's. Nearly a year of sleeping alone was more than enough for me.
Demi was gifted with the natural ability to fly. There was no doubt that she got that from me. She got her brains and personality from her mother and her looks from her grandmother. I flew with her several times in simulation, both in the cockpit with her and in separate ships flying in formation. I wasn't worried about her ability to fly. We were headed into combat. The Medusa fighter wasn't invulnerable. We could get hit, and she could get hurt.
I allowed her to take over the ship's controls. "Have fun sweetie. Let's go get some bad guys."
She squealed with delight and moved the throttles all the way forward. The ship shot forward. The reactor processed the fuel, superheating and expanding it before reaching the turbines. Most of the superheated fuel bypassed the turbine blades and was directed directly into the combustion chamber where it was mixed with oxygen, then heated even further. The mixture was heated and pressurized to the point where fission occurred and was directed by our exhaust nozzles. A lot of energy was released using only a small amount of fuel.
The fighter shook with the force being used to accelerate us nearly to light speed. Demi laughed and spun the ship. She reversed our thrust and decelerated as hard as she accelerated. We were well past our fighters. Our speed would carry us past the enemy fighters, but not by much. I think my daughter did it purposely so we would be attacking from the rear.
I didn't have time to ask. I armed our cannon, gun turret, and missiles. Persephone brought our shields up to full power. Our target acquisition designation sight, (TADS), was already locked onto an enemy fighter. We were still too fast for our missiles and 40mm cannon. I squeezed the trigger that fired our plasma cannon. Blue bolts of energy shot forward, and the enemy fighter exploded in an expanding ball of plasma.
Demi laughed, she cut our thrust and spun the ship to face the Alliance fighters. The TADS locked onto another fighter. We were in a favorable position for our missiles, I fired one. Before it hit, Demi turned the ship again pointing it at another ship. I fired again. I was so busy firing our weapons that I didn't have time to think about anything else. Persephone was just as busy, assigning new targets.
Demi pushed out throttles forward and turned the ship to a new heading. She spun the ship, avoiding a missile lock. Our fighters were still minutes away. The Alliance pilots got over the initial shock of our attack, and now they concentrated on us.
Demi rolled, banked, and spun the ship, trying to avoid weapon's locks. Persephone activated the fighters ECM. The ship's AI remained silent. It was busy trying to keep up with our daughter and anticipate what she needed. I alternated firing all three of our weapons. Our missiles and cannon only lasted a few minutes before we were out of ammunition. The ship's plasma cannon could fire indefinitely but needed time to recharge between use.
"Damn it!" Demi shouted advancing the ships throttles and turning away, heading back to the Persephone. We needed to rearm. Our fighters were engaged with the Alliance fleet. There were so many Alliance fighters that it was
hard to tell if we had any impact on them.
"Demi! Watch your language. It is unbecoming of a goddess."
"Grandma says it all the time."
"I will talk to my mother about her use of language too."
I was too exhausted from attacking the Alliance ships to fly. Demi didn't seem tired at all. In fact, she was full of energy. My daughter was pulling power into herself, faster than she was expending it. Demi had gathered so much energy that she was glowing. I let her fly back to our ship while I rested. Persephone called ahead to have a crew ready to rearm our ship.
****
Our capital ships engaged the Alliance warships. Just like the last time, Jazz didn't launch his riders until he was in the optimum range of his energy weapons, as soon as they were clear, he turned and rolled the Prometheus, so its full complement of weapons could fire at the enemy.
The Vengeance, Valkyrie, Trident, and Victory fired both their missiles and energy weapons at the capital ships. The Persephone and the Sequoia stayed out of weapons range. Neither ship was capable of fighting. The Sequoia, an agriculture ship, dedicated its resources to producing food for the fleet, and its captain organized salvage operations and repairs. The Persephone carried the bulk of volunteers that joined us to search for Earth and a new chance at life.
****
Demi made a smooth landing. She idled the engines down but kept them running while ground crew replaced the spent ammunition. The crew attached two weapons pylons to each of our fighters small wings. They hung a single missile on each pylon and one on the centerline station. These were not the small missiles we used against other fighters, weapons towers, or gun turrets. These were Hunter-Seeker Mark II missiles. They were meant for killing capital ships. We couldn't fly in atmosphere armed this way, nor could the ship's wings be swept forward or back. In space, it wouldn't make much difference with the ship's performance.
I wasn't sure if the Medusa fighter could fire these weapons. I looked at the weapons menu on the MFD, πυραύλων που αναζητούν κυνηγούς, (pyrávlon pou anazitoún kynigoús), was added to the list. It recognized the new missiles, all five were added to our weapons stores.
