by C. M. Kane
He looked at the titans thoughtfully before smiling. ‘Asteria, as you are the spokes person for your fleet, I will leave it to you to discuss this with them and work out when you wish us to meet. As a token of our appreciation, and as an offer of our goodwill and friendship, I formally give you the dreadnaught fleet we have captured. You may divide it between what-ever Captains you may decide.’
Asteria’s eyes widened in shock at Zeus’ words, but she quickly nodded.
Zeus then turned to Loki. ‘As soon as Asteria and the others have sorted themselves out, we will convene a meeting between all of us to discuss our futures.’
Loki couldn’t help but chuckle. It was a master stroke to offer the remaining titans the dreadnaught fleet, because at the moment they had no idea that Brightmoon controlled it. He thought they may start to wonder how it was captured a bit later. With all the damage done to the Eos, and at the rate Brightmoons bots were dismantling her, he figured she’d be useful for scrap only very shortly. He knew some of the smarter ones wouldn’t be fooled; they hadn’t got to their positions and age by being greedy fools.
Loki looked at Tae; he could feel the lingering adrenalin from his battle lust start changing to something else. It was time they came to an understanding on exactly what their relationship to each other was.
‘Come,’ he said holding out his hand to her. ‘We will meet with you later after we have … rested,’ he told the others as he pulled Tae forcefully to the nearest turbo lift.
Chapter 40
Tae stumbled along behind him; she was both surprised and a little thrilled at his actions. But, if he thought for one moment he was just going to steamroll her into jumping into bed with him just because he knew she liked him, well, he had another thing coming. She had her pride; she would not allow herself to be used, not by anyone.
No! If Loki wants to have sex, then he’s going to have to make me believe he wants more than just that, he has to want me. She thought letting her anger rise. Finally she had found the man she had been waiting to give herself to, but if he didn’t feel the same way she did then he could take a hike, she was no-one’s toy.
The doors to the turbo lift were barely closed before he had pushed her up against the wall. Tae held up her hand making him stop in surprise.
‘I’m sorry, Loki, but I’m sick and tired of being stuffed around by you. You’ve behaved like a giant arsehole, and I’m tired of it. I won’t be used by you, or by anyone else, is that understood? Either you want me, all of me, or you don’t,’ she said glaring at him.
Loki looked at her in surprise. ‘You doubt I want you? I’ve wanted you from the moment I set eyes on you back on Terra. Since then I’ve had to watch you gazing at other men with lust, while I have been shunted to the sidelines. Then there was my disgraceful performance down on Tartarise,’ he said, a flush creeping rapidly up his neck.
He shook his head. ‘You ask me if I want you. Of course I want you. I want all of you, every atom, every molecule, every smart answer that makes me feel like an idiot, every brilliant plan. Tae, I want everything from you!’ He smiled wicked at her before adding, ‘and then I’ll want more.’
Then he was kissing her as she had once dreamed he would. Tae answered his intensity as her own needs started to quickly spiral out of control. All she could think of was his passion, and it was all directed at her.
He finally broke away from her and looked down into her desire filled eyes. ‘I have come to care for you, Tae, more than I believed possible.’ He sighed softly as he kissed her forehead. ‘Let me erase what I did in that cave. Let me show you the pleasure I need you to feel; pleasure that only I can give to you,’ he added arrogantly.
Tae could feel his body tense as she clasped his face gently in her hands and looked into his beautiful black eyes. She saw that they were filled with yearning. A yearning for me alone, she thought in wonder.
‘I have no intention of going anywhere, Loki. The Universe gave me Brightmoon when I most needed a home and friend. She has now given me you to be my lover, because the time is now right.’ She grinned at him before adding, ‘I’m kind of thinking I got the better end of the deal here. Now, I know you’ve got some plans laid out in that clever brain of yours, so are you going to put up or shut up.’
Loki laughed softly at her challenge, just as he started to bend down to kiss her they both realized the turbo lift had come to a halt. Tae looked at the level in surprise as Loki’s lips moved to her ear.
‘We’re at the top seven floors,’ she said with a gasp of both desire, at his ear nibbling, and surprise at where they now were.
Loki raised his head and looked at the panel then at Tae in surprise. ‘I wonder what she’s up to this time,’ he said looking at the closed door a bit apprehensively. ‘Together?’ he asked holding out his hand.
Tae smiled brilliantly. ‘Together,’ she said grasping it.
They both turned and pressed the doors to open to whatever surprise Brightmoon now had in store for them.
Both Tae and Loki gasped as they stepped out of the lift; straight into what appeared to be a small forest. Fragrant trees and bushes, most of which Tae had never seen before in her life, dotted the landscape. She looked up and gasped anew. Somehow Brightmoon had turned the entire domed ceiling into a giant unending view- screen, and it was now filled with a view from outside.
To Tae it felt like the ship had somehow opened its upper floors straight into space. Twinkling stars and other ships from the fleet seemed to be almost within hands reach. Tae stared in wonder at the majestic view as tears began to fill her eyes. The sheer beauty of what they were both seeing was beyond anything she had ever dreamed possible. As they stepped further into the forest room she realized it felt like a warm summer evening, she could even hear the noises of night birds as they called to each other.
‘This is incredible,’ said Loki gazing around in sheer amazement. ‘She must have gotten these bushes and flowers from Tuvarna at some stage, along with Terra and Chena by the looks of these trees.’
Tae laughed merrily, she let go of Loki’s hand and spun around trying to take in every sight and sound. As she turned she noticed something a little further on from where they now were. Something that looked vaguely familiar sat in the middle of a small clearing. Frowning in thought Tae pointed to it, without a word they started walking towards it to see what else Brightmoon had waiting in surprise for them.
Loki started to laugh uproariously as they neared the object and they finally saw what it was. It was obviously the Brightmoons version of a star chair built for two; a huge black bed swirling with red pinpricks of light faced them.
Tae looked at it and started to laugh alongside Loki. ‘I wondered why she let me go without the vid ball,’ she said as she turned and gazed at him with an impish grin. ‘What do you say? Time to finally prove to me what tricks all these years of living has taught you, old man,’ she said cheekily.
Loki didn’t say a word he simply dragged Tae down to the bed with him. Neither of them even noticed when her small vid ball poked around the nearest tree and start watching them covertly.
The fleet of surrounding ships watched in both wonder and curiosity as for the next several hours Brightmoons skin would suddenly flare and pulse with vibrant red patterns. Just as Loki showed Tae in loving detail exactly what she had wanted to know.
Epilogue
It had been six months since the final battle with the titans and so far everything had gone reasonably smoothly. Zeus had won a lot of points by offering the titans who had defected to them the use of the new Dreadnaught class ships. Of course they still didn’t realize that Brightmoon could assume control over them at any time she chose, a fact that Zeus and the others kept firmly to themselves.
There were a few hick-ups along the way of course, but Tae knew that was to be expected. Despite Hyperion’s defeat, these were still a very warlike people; she knew there would be clashes in the coming centuries, still, so far so good.
The
se had been some of the happiest times of Tae’s life. She’d had Loki, she’d had her family, Valaria and Brohan, and she’d had her friends Xirra and Trevor. Best of all, she’d even been given Brightmoon after Zeus had finally agreed with Loki’s reasons for turning the ship over to her control. Everything in her life had been perfect, except for the fact that she was becoming bored out of her mind just sitting here.
Loki had been put in charge of organizing the Terraforming of several small worlds that held potential for the titans to resettle. Tae knew he was excited about it. After making love they would lie on their bed looking up at the surrounding star field, he would tell her his ideas on everything from ozone layers, to different soil bacteria, and the impotence each thing played in the long slow process of creating a vibrant living ecosystem. The trouble was, Brightmoon was becoming restless, and so was Tae. When she’d suggested that maybe she and Brightmoon could do some exploring while he worked on his project he’d become upset. He had been fully expecting her to follow him around while he worked. When Tae had pointed out that this wasn’t fair they’d had their first major fight. It had ended with him calling her an immature child and Tae calling him a selfish douchebag. After they had both calmed down he’d told her he’d gotten Zeus to agree to her having Brightmoon, surely that proved that she needed him to look after her.
Tae of course saw this for exactly what it was, a poor attempt at making her feel indebted to him, and she was having none of it. She had quickly pointed out that it was the least he could do considering how many times she’d saved his arse, it had deteriorated from there. After their fight Loki had left her and returned to his ship the Fenris, which Vulcan had finally finished repairing. She knew that he thought she would beg him to come back, she didn’t.
She couldn’t believe he’d been so adamant that she give in to his will and follow him around. Didn’t he realize that she had wants and need of her own? Or was he just so used to getting his own way that he refused to bend for anyone, even her. Her mind had wandered back to what Cassandra had said to her. She’d said that she was strong enough to not become lost in a man, that she was her own woman. Tae now knew she had been through enough to survive on her own, and that her life, and her needs, was every bit as important as Loki’s. As far as Tae was concerned, if the giant turdball couldn’t see that, then he could go take a flying leap under the next volcano he came across, she had better things to do.
So Tae had buried herself in rebuilding her own crew to ease her hurt and lick her wounds. To her disappointment Loki had been incredibly churlish, he had refused to allow her to have either Brohan or Valaria as part of her crew, but Radnor had left her Lieutenant Tark. Whether this was an act of good faith on his behalf, or whether Radnor just couldn’t take the vampires irreverent attitude, was open to suggestion. Either way Tae was happy to have him. She had also taken the advice Brohan had given her before he left and had given the lieutenant the post of head of security. Brohan had high hopes that this position would pull him into line, and so far it seemed to be working.
After the battle onboard Brightmoon between the breaching pod filled with titans, and the defenders, she also had a large contingent of Tore Warriors onboard. This was something that Brightmoon was very wary of; it seemed she just couldn’t get used to their large sharp horns; and she kept a close eye on them at all times.
Much to everyone’s surprise Tae had also asked the Tore to enlist any of the Medusa or Harpies that may be interested in joining them. The Tore had found seven Medusa, who they now had a truce with, who wanted to join their eclectic crew. The rest of her crew was made up of a mixture of races from the Realms of the Gods. Brightmoon was now a hive of activity and life. All in all, both she and Brightmoon were happy with their crew, they were a little different, just like them.
Much to Tae’s delight Krios had also asked for permission to stay with Brightmoon. Tae had liked the young titan from the moment she met him. She had a good feeling about him so she’d gone with her gut and appointed him as her chief sensor operator. Tae found that the young titan was personable, funny, and an absolute genius with a sensor array. He was like Brightmoon, he missed nothing. He also devoured her music collection once she had introduced him to it, and was genuinely looking forward to visiting Terra to see if he could find more.
It was then that Tae made up her mind on what she needed to do. Both she and Brightmoon needed to get away from everyone and stretch their legs; they both needed time to heal from their respective ordeals. She decided that she wanted to do a few explorer runs with Thanatos’ group.
After reaching her decision she had then set out to ask Zeus for his permission to begin exploring. Much to her delight he had readily agreed, providing they had their destinations known in advance, and were kept up to date on what they found. They also had to seed each new system they came to with both sensor and communication buoys. Tae had agreed and had thanked him profusely. He had smiled and given her a very long, very tight, hug, to wish her luck, or so he said.
So two weeks later here she was, sitting in the star chair on Brightmoons bridge, looking out at a portal that was just beginning to open. As she stared out at the forming portal she thought of Loki.
This was the hardest thing she had ever done, she still cared deeply for her black eyed lover, but to put her own dreams aside and stay would be a mistake. She had not long turned eighteen and she both wanted, and needed, to explore the Universe, as did Brightmoon. If she stayed, a part of her would always resent him, and she didn’t want that. She knew she still had a lot of maturing to do, she needed to experience life, and until she did, her love-life would just have to wait.
She pushed aside her musings, pasted a smile on her face, and turned to Krios. ‘So how about a little music to start our epic voyage… sensor operator’s choice. Oh, and make it loud, let’s remind everyone of just who they’re saying farewell to shall we.’
Krios nodded, after a moment where he appeared lost in thought, he started to grin excitedly. His hands began to move swiftly over his consol before he finally turned and nodded to Tae. Tae immediately ordered Brightmoon to head out through the portal she had just opened.
Slowly the great Dreadnaught moved through the portal leaving the realms of the titans behind her, all whilst Born To Be Wild was broadcast to every ship in the vicinity.
Her Captain was grinning widely.
The End.
Authors Thank You
What can I say, if you’ve just joined Tae on her adventures, then welcome, and thank you for taking a chance and reading her story.
For all of you who have continued to follow Tae on her adventures; I hope you liked the way it ended. I originally had it ending a little differently, but after thinking about it, I thought that it just wasn’t our girl. Tae is tough and independent; she has her own sense of self worth.
So, you know the drill people, if you liked the book, could you please, please, put some stars up on Amazon, and perhaps even Goodreads, along with a sentence or two. You have no idea how much it would mean to me. I love reading reviews… well, I’ll qualify that. I love reading good reviews.
So if you want to make someone happy, than how about a kind review and some of those pesky stars, share the love.
Carol. Kane.
Ps: Before I forget, I also have a Facebook page, feel free to drop by if you have any questions, here’s the address.
https://www.facebook.com/CMKane-1642858532691088/
