by C. M. Kane
Vulcan looked down at himself, then over at Tae, before the pair of them started to laugh uncontrollably again.
Loki frowned, what the hell is wrong with them? He looked around angrily at the engineers and medics who were now crowded around the open door watching the strange little scene.
‘Get them out and to the med bay as quickly as possible while I go and check that the rest of the ship isn’t damaged.’
He walked quickly to the turbo lifts refusing to acknowledge the jealousy that burned within him. For a moment he had seriously considered just getting Tae loose, and then shoving the Snuggle Bunny in a straight course to Tartarises sun, complete with one God - namely Vulcan.
He hurried straight to the bridge to check on repairs before he could change his mind.
Chapter 26
Tae came back to consciousness slowly; her head felt like someone had taken to it with Borigs’ war club. She could hear people talking somewhere near her; they were being far too loud for her comfort. She cracked opened her eyes a little before then closing them again quickly, groaning at the sudden bright light that assaulted her senses.
‘Hey, Tae,’ said a familiar voice, ‘your awake already. I expected you to be out for at least another couple of hours.’
‘Valaria?’ she mumbled.
She heard Valaria laugh lightly. ‘Of course it’s me. I finally made it back intending to surprise you, but it seems the only time I ever see you lately is when you’re injured and in a med bed.’
Tae’s hand reached up to her throbbing head. ‘Head,’ she mumbled again.
‘Yes, well I’m afraid there’s nothing they can do about that, Lord Vulcan and yourself got a small dose of Marashion gas from one of the Snuggle Bunny’s broken crystal coolant straps.You were both high as kites and laughing your heads off when they finally got you out. On the bright side, you didn’t seem to be in much pain judging by the joking around that was going on as they cut you both out; but on the down side, you will both have the hangover from hell for a few more hours until the effects fully wear off. Apart from that, all your cuts have now been repaired, and your bones are almost fully set again. You’re now able to move around a little, but you’ll need another few hours before you’re back to full health again.’
‘Brightmoon?’ she whispered.
‘Brightmoon is nearly back to normal as far as we can tell. She seems to be putting all her efforts into fixing her outer doors as well as keeping an eye on you. Your vid ball hasn’t left your side, it has been scanning you every ten minutes or so to check on your healing.
‘Vulcan?’
‘Oh yes, the delectable Mr. Muscles, Mmmmm,’ she said in deep appreciation. ‘He’s fine also, at the moment he’s involved in a meeting with Lord Zeus and some of the other Gods. I think he’s getting an earful from them over the failure of the Felice containment system. I know Lord Loki was absolutely livid, in fact I think all of the Gods seemed genuinely surprised at just how angry he was,’ she said gazing at Tae with renewed interest. ‘Anything you want to share with me there?’ She asked curiously.
Tae smiled but kept her eyes closed. ‘Not as yet, how long have I been out of it,’ she said as she slowly opened her eyes again.
Valaria sighed in obvious disappointment. ‘A little over ten standard hours, and you know I won’t let go of this Loki thing don’t you? I mean Brightmoon isn’t the only one who likes to see what you’re up to. Although she’s definitely got the advantage seeing as you’ve got her nanites, she can see exactly what’s going on in your life at any time.
Tae smiled and asked for some Rafa juice which Valaria quickly gave her. She drank it gratefully as she watched Brightmoons vid ball come over to give her yet another scan. ‘I’m alright now, sweetie,’ she said, feeling a little better as the Rafa juice hit her system. ‘I’ve just got the headache to end all headaches, and hopefully that’ll go soon too.’
She gazed at the hovering vid ball for a moment then asked, ‘but how are you? I didn’t hurt you did I? It was the only way to save you … well the only way I could think of at the time anyway, and we were pretty much out of options by then.’
The vid ball lowered onto her bed and came to rest beside her head; slowly a song came floating quietly from with-in it, it was the first song Brightmoon had ever played to her. Tae smiled, she knew exactly what she was saying, she was okay, but more importantly, she accepted that Tae hadn’t hurt her deliberately.
‘I love you too, sweetie, sometimes I forget how well you can see what I’m up to,’ she said. She stopped suddenly as the stray thought suddenly stuck in her mind; she fixated on it, she knew it was important for some reason. ‘You can see what I’m up to,’ she said, repeating the thought aloud before she closed her eyes and became lost in thought.
Valaria leant forward in concern. ‘Tae honey, are you alright, should I call a med tech for you?’
Tae opened her eyes and stared at Valaria as realization finally struck. ‘How can I have been so stupid? She sees! She’s not blind like the others, but they’re all the same original design!’ She said as her eyes widened in understanding. ‘That’s what Latrissa meant, their blind, but Brightmoon isn’t! She can see, it’s part of her, part of her mind!’ She sat up quickly then immediately grabbed her head in pain.
‘Tae, I think you better lay back and take it easy,’ Valaria said, just as Brohan entered the room for a visit.
‘I’ve got to speak to Loki and the others immediately, where are they?’ she said turning to Brohan.
Brohan frowned. ‘I’m sorry, Tae, but you weren’t invited to the meeting, I can’t let you go. Lord Loki is sure to come and visit you as soon as he’s finished; he has just sent me to check on your recovery and report directly back to him.’
Tae frowned as she and got unsteadily to her feet, her white smock that she was dressed in falling to just above her knees. ‘I’m sorry, Commander Brohan, but this can’t wait,’ she said formally.
Both Brohan and Valaria frowned as Tae turned to her vid ball. ‘Hold them here, and if they try to move stun them,’ she said, having no idea whether or not Brightmoon would agree, or even if it was possible for the Dreadnaught to stun anybody with the little vid ball. The vid ball immediately opened its weapons ports and flew directly in front of both Valaria and Brohan before they could reach for their zap guns.
‘Tae Rames!’ Valaria said in shock.
‘Tae, this isn’t funny, we are not playing games here. I am your commanding officer; you can be tried for treason for this girl. Is this all the respect you can show me after all we have been through,’ said Brohan angrily.
‘I’m sorry, Brohan, Valaria, but there is far more going on than either of you realize. And stop trying to make me feel guilty, Brohan, it worked once because you were right and I was wrong, and I thank you for that, but not this time, this time it’s time for you to have a little faith in me. I’m getting mighty bloody tired of everyone treating me as if I’m some kind of willful child. Loki gave me an order, if I figure out a way that may help us defeat the Titans than I’m to speak up immediately… IMMEDIATELY, Commander Brohan. Which I’m taking to mean is right now. Especially while everyone’s already here and they can discuss my idea as a group.’
She stopped and took a deep breath, even the effort of talking had made her wobble on her feet. ‘Now are you two going to help me to make it to where-ever the hell their meeting is being held, or are you going to stay here and pout because I’ve been a naughty girl again?’ Brohan frowned and was about to say something more when Valaria burst out laughing.
‘By the gods, Tae, you sound so much like your grandfather with that new commanding attitude of yours,’ she shook her head and smiled. ‘I can’t believe in the short time I’ve been away you’ve somehow managed to grow into a woman. Mind you, I have my suspicions,’ she winked saucily. ‘I would be honored to help you to get to where-ever the hell their meeting is being held,’ she grinned then turned to Brohan. ‘Grab an arm gorgeous, we
’ve got a meeting to help Tae gatecrash.’
Brohan looked up at the vid ball which continued to hover menacingly until Tae called it off. ‘I still don’t like this, I am not used to going against orders,’ he said gruffly as he swept Tae up into his arms.
‘Trust me, you get used to it after a while,’ said Tae with a grin, ‘and I can walk,’ she protested feebly. ‘I’m just a little wobbly because my head feels so weird, and I think having that Rafa juice might not have been such a great idea,’ her stomach gave a lurch and she swallowed her rising vomit.
Brohan humphed, ‘Easier and quicker this way,’ he said easily as he strode out of the med bay and down the corridor to the closest turbo lift, both Tae’s ever present vid ball and a happily grinning Valaria trailing closely behind.
Chapter 27
Zeus stared at Vulcan in both anger and frustration; all their hopes had just been crushed in one simple sentence. The containment system had failed, and they had no way of knowing how long any other versions of the system would last if they made alterations, it could be anything from an hour to a week. As things stood at the moment, they had no idea on how to improve on them. The Felice radiation, just as they had originally thought, was simply to unpredictable and hard to contain, and what was worse, they weren’t even back to square one, not with the news Tae had bought them from the Minotaur’s seer.
Whilst Loki and Vulcan had been at Tartarise, Zeus had been busy spending his time at the front line meeting with his Captains and formulating plans. The ships of the fleet were now arriving hourly as the word had spread amongst them. They had kept it to short range contact instead of putting out a general broadcast to everyone, just in case Hyperion had a listening buoy somewhere, better safe than sorry. Their plans were coming along well, one hundred and ninety ships had now gathered at Salernis. Before Tae’s news of the fleet of Dreadnaughts that the Titans now possessed reached them, Zeus had met with Ares and the other Captains to work out a plan of battle. Instead of attacking as soon as the first ships came through, they would allow at least twenty of the Titans armada through the portal before they closed their trap in a pincer movement and opened fire. Theoretically this should allow them to kill as many of their front line troops as possible without taking casualties themselves. This would also put up a field of debris in front of the fresh incoming ships. They had decided to keep to this plan, despite Tae’s news of the new fleet. Ares reasoned– rightly- that if Loki could disable some of the dreadnaught fleet, then their original battle plan was still solid. When the Dreadnaughts eventually came through, their best hope was to hit them from all sides with whatever ships they had left after the initial incursion, and to that purpose they had divided up the their fleet into seven squads. Each squad would be in charge of a separate area of space. The seven differing squad Captains along with Loki and Vulcan now sat at a table aboard Brightmoon to discuss what had occurred, along with their plans and options for the future. Zeus, their commander in chief, along with Poseidon, Ares, Hade’s, Thanatos, Bellona and Isis now sat silently, each consumed by their own thoughts. They had been going through scenario after scenario but nothing had even seemed even remotely plausible. Now each of them stared off at something different, refusing to look into each other’s eyes. All of them afraid of seeing the same thoughts of imminent defeat that was mirrored in their own eyes.’
Zeus stood abruptly, his eyes afire with purpose. ‘There is only one option left open to us,’ he said lifting his head and staring at them all in a show of pride and arrogance. ‘I will not allow Hyperion to destroy all that we have achieved. I will take the Olympus through the portal and travel to Gaia. When their fleet arrives I will set the Olympus’s engines to overload and fly into the middle of them, hopefully, when they go critical, I’ll take enough of them out to give you all a chance.’
As Ares went to speak he held up his hand imperiously. ‘We will still need you here to lead the battle at the portal should I be only partially successful, as I suspect.’
Poseidon stood. ‘That’s why I’ll be coming with you brother, there will be more hope of success if there are two of us’
‘I will come too,’ said Hades quickly.
‘No,’ said Zeus with a smile. ‘You are mated, and we will need someone to lead us should we prevail. You and Loki are the most suited to this, but as Loki seems to dislike any form of leadership apart from having his own ship, than that leaves you to carry the burden. Besides, you are bond mated to Persephone. She would wither away with-out you brother, and as long as you hurry up and have children then our line will live on,’ he finished with a smile.
Bellona grinned at the now frowning Hade’s. ‘He’s right, Hade’s, besides, I’ll be going along with them, everyone else is needed here. Loki and Brightmoon will be needed to fight any of the Dreadnaughts that manage to survive. Vulcan is needed for repairs and ship building. Hades has to lead should we defeat them and Ares needs to lead and co-ordinate the different battle groups at the portal.’ She looked at the final two gods still grinning widely. ‘Isis you are also mated and Thanatos is our explorer, should we need to flee. The way I figure it, between the three of us we should, hopefully, be able to make a pretty big dent in their fleet if we’re lucky and manage to surprise them. Besides, I haven’t seen my old home ground for a while; I’m actually interested to see what destruction they’ve managed to inflict on it since we’ve been gone.’
Zeus nodded in gratitude knowing they now had a slim chance. ‘We leave with-in the hour; we will hide behind Gaia’s largest moon, Rushla. I am hoping they won’t notice us until it’s too late, and if we leave early we can have any surplus crew disembark at the front line before we leave. Hopefully they won’t have anyone guarding the portal as yet,’ the others nodded. ‘In the mean time we’ll keep our communications open on the off chance one of you genius’s should think of some miracle to save us all,’ he said wryly.
‘I think I might have an idea that could work,’ said a voice from the now open door to the meeting room.
They turned as one to see a very pale Tae, she was being cradled in the arms of Commander Brohan, Valaria, and Tae’s ever present vid ball followed the pair inside. Brohan gently lowered Tae until she was standing on her own. She took a deep breath and wobbled carefully over to the table. She saw Loki stand as she neared, so she could sit in his seat, that way she was facing the rest of gods that were present. When she was finally seated he stood beside her, his hand resting possessively on her shoulder. Radnor watched the little scene with a slight, almost paternal smile, creasing his lips.
Zeus watched this fascinating little display of overt possessiveness with amusement; he had long ceased to be surprised by any of Loki’s actions. Besides which, he had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on with his prankster friend, and at any other time he would have been trying to suppress a bellow of laughter; either that, or he’d be giving Tae an earful for interrupting their meeting– again. As it was, Zeus was just about ready to listen to a Minotaur lecture him on dining etiquette if he thought it might give his people even the slightest edge. He looked over at Tae’s pale face, this remarkably clever young woman had managed to save their collective arses before by using her mind to find a solution to their predicament, he now prayed she could do so one more time.
‘So, what have you thought up this time, Tae, and try to make it good, as you may have just heard, we’ve pretty much run out of options.’
Tae looked into the hopeful faces of the gods and their seconds, who were all looking at her expectantly. She felt Loki’s hand upon her shoulder and took comfort from it, taking a deep breath to try to settle her still roiling stomach she said loudly. ‘We make them see!’
The Gods stared at her perplexed. ‘Is she still suffering from the effects of the Marashion gas,’ said Poseidon frowning at her in confusion.
Loki leant forward his lips feeling disturbingly close to her ear, and even in her weakened state she felt her body quicken.
‘Tae, what do you mean, we make them see?’
Tae smiled as she looked around at them all, before finally turning her attention back to Loki. ‘Don’t you remember Latrissa’s vision? She told us that their great machines are blind, and that it is both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness.’
Loki nodded and she continued. ‘It took me a while to understand what she meant, it wasn’t until Valaria reminded me of how Brightmoon can see what I’m up to by what I download when I’m away from her that it finally clicked.’
‘Of course!’ said Vulcan loudly as understanding dawned on him as to what she was saying.
Tae turned to him in delight, noting that he looked in only slightly better condition than she did, then she turned her gaze back to the rest. ‘Don’t you understand? We have to make them see like Brightmoon does,’ she said triumphantly.
‘But Brightmoon is sentient,’ said Loki aloud as he puzzled at Tae’s words; the others are only ships of her original design. He stopped in mid sentence as her words dawned on him. ‘Of course! They are the same design as her,’ he repeated, ‘ they will have the same Neuro gel veins running through them that she does, but right now they are fully controlled by the Titans because they aren’t sentient. That is their strength… they don’t see like she does.’
‘Well I’m assuming they have the same basic design,’ said Tae enthusiastically. ‘And if they do, then all we would have to do is get some of Brightmoons nanites into them, and if Vulcan can add a program for them to multiply exponentially, then theoretically they would all become a part of Brightmoon. She could gain control over their entire fleet of Dreadnaughts! We’d be able to defeat them before they could fire a shot at us,’ she finished, before looking around at the shocked faces of the Gods.
