Teeth & Claws_A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “The plans were for Toriton to bring a hundred of his warriors,” Kiuys replied. “Goki said he would have the same number.”

  “But we cannot count on that being true,” Admiral Jetuyn said.

  “You all are overthinking this,” Sivaha said, and they turned to my silver-haired wife. “It will be ideal to get to the ceremony and confront Goki directly, but it will not be required. He will not be expecting my husband to make an appearance with his armada, so I can think of only four potential outcomes.”

  Sivaha raised a long finger as her smile grew broader.

  “First, he will not be in the system at all. That is a minor annoyance, but just delays the inevitable. We will destroy what ships he does have in orbit and on planet and then make our way to the Waymund home sector. He will not escape our armada.”

  “Second, Goki is in the system on one of his ships. Perhaps he even intended to do something similar to Toriton and have a doppelgänger stand in. This also doesn’t matter, our armada will attack his fleet, and destroy him. We’ll pick up the pieces of Waymund afterward. There will be someone left alive who can submit to Adam.”

  “Third possibility is that Goki is on the planet, but he learns of our plan and tries to escape. We will either capture or shoot down his vessel when it tries to leave the atmosphere.”

  “Fourth possibility is that we capture Goki and his family. Then we will work to integrate them. My point is, no matter what the scenario, I do not see the possibility of failure in the long term.”

  “But my Queen, they could kill your husband easily if he is in their fortress.” Unnie bobbed his head as he spoke.

  Sivaha let out a mirthful laugh and waved her hands at the young man. A few of the older Vaish generals cracked slight smiles, and I saw Madalena try to keep her face impassive.

  “My husband cannot be defeated in combat,” Sivaha said. “It does not matter if there are a hundred or a thousand Waymund warriors in his way, or even The Six themselves. He is the avatar of Odin. He is the king of kings. He is a force of nature.”

  “Thanks for the confidence, Sivaha,” I said as I smiled at the beautiful woman, “but Admiral Unnie does have a point. Our chances of success improve if they don’t suspect that I am part of Aasne’s entourage. My original plan was to have her say that her father was feeling ill, and he was waiting on one of the ships till after the wedding, but that might spook Goki. I actually like Toriton’s plan. Is there anyone in the armada or on planet who looks close enough to the man to fool Waymund for a few hours? That will allow us to get into the compound and increase our chances of making it to the wedding ceremony.”

  The admirals from Idonan looked at each other for a few moments, and most of them nodded.

  “We can find someone, my lord,” Kiuys said. “We are the clan which most appreciates the arts, thespians, and skalds. We will locate an actor who can perform the role.”

  “We’ll need to run through the various scenarios,” I said. “There could be hiccups every step of the way, and we will need to have a backup plan for each one. Let’s work from Sivaha’s four scenarios and then establish a course of action for each one. Sound fair?”

  The gathered admirals nodded, but then Sivaha cleared her throat, and we all looked back to her.

  “There is one other variable that I did not bring up in this meeting yet, but I have already discussed with my husband and the Prime Valkyrie.” She shook her head and turned to Madalena.

  “Ahh yeah,” I muttered as I remembered Sivaha briefly having spoken about Waymund’s queen

  “Yes,” Madalena said. “Our spies do not know for certain if Queen Waymund is submitted to her king, or if her king is submitted to her.”

  There was a moment of silence in the conference room as we turned to the Idonan admirals.

  “Unfortunately, we do not know either,” Kiuys asked.

  “It is of concern, but not a major one,” Sivaha said. “As long as we get to both of them, we should be able to figure out who is really in charge.”

  I nodded, but my mind quickly turned to Eve. I’d come to rely on my lover’s mind reading talents for complicated interactions like this, and her presence was sorely missed. It would only be another week and a half at the most, but part of me wondered if it would have just been better waiting for my friends to finish their rite before trying to conquer the other Nordar clans.

  Then again, we didn’t have a lot of time. Even when the Nordar were united, I had other tasks I wanted to accomplish if there was enough time. Elaka Nota was still hunting for me and Eve, so I wanted to strike back at them with a massive armada at my back. Yeah, that could happen after we fought against the Draugr, but Eve knew of other women who had been experimented on, and I would have preferred to recruit them to our cause before we needed to be back at Uraniel.

  There was also Lith Dae and Alloprize. Those were two mega corps that I knew inflicted vast injustices across the universe. I once swore to protect as many people as I could from those types of entities, and I now had the resources to fight back.

  “What is the exact date that Toriton had planned on arriving on Dia-Prism 5?” I asked Admiral Kiuys.

  “In ten days,” she replied, “and our median engine travel time to reach there is three days for the ships he had planned to take, and five days for the slower bulk of his armada.”

  “Then we have four days to solidify our plan, come up with backup strategies, and plot our courses,” I said as I looked around the room at the gathered admirals. “Let’s take a deeper dive and ensure that King Goki Waymund and his queen have no chance of escaping our clutches.”

  Chapter 12

  The four days of planning went by quicker than I could have imagined. Despite the success of our first conference and acceptance of my initial plan, there were still various egos that flared up, arguments that arose, and contrary opinions that I had to massage into place. The beast in my soul screamed at me a few times to just murder everyone in the room and journey to Dia-Prism 5 on Persephone and do the damn deed myself.

  Dragon ended up being far more useful than I had ever hoped he could be. He sat silently in each meeting during the day, but then met with Sivaha, Madalena, Aasne, and I afterward to discuss the progress of the meetings. He possessed both Madalena’s calculating mind and Sivaha’s understanding of people’s raw desires. I found that the discussions began to smooth out once I took his advice.

  Once the team had agreed to the skeleton of my plan and the basics of everyone’s position in the armada, the real work actually started. I took a step back so that Madalena could manage the timetables of everyone’s hyper and warpdrives, and the formation relays which we would use to ensure that the three different armadas who were now Vaish didn’t accidentally plow into or shoot each other. The details were a bit mind-numbing, but Madalena’s genius was tuned to this type of logistical battle, and it quickly became obvious to all the new admirals that she was the Prime Valkyrie for reasons beyond simply hand-to-hand combat prowess.

  I didn’t spend much time with Aasne during the four days. It wasn’t that I did not like the freckled woman; it was more that we were both extremely occupied with our tasks. And every meal I ate needed Madalena, Sivaha, and Dragon in attendance so we could plan. I didn’t feel comfortable taking her into my bed without getting to know her better, or without her meeting Eve and Zea, so I spent my short nights in the familiar arms of either Sivaha or Madalena.

  Before I knew it, the armada activated their hyperdrive for Waymund space, and I was in my room putting on the Idonan uniform we had selected. It looked like a standard uniform, but the seams were stitched to pull apart and stretch when I shifted instead of tear.

  “My lord,” Madalena’s voice came over my transponder as I finished putting on my long coat, and I clicked the button to answer her.

  “I’m here,” I said.

  “We are in the armory preparing our kits. The shuttle is here to take us to the Idonan destroyer.

  “I
’ll be there in a moment,” I said. “I’ll pass command over to Nikki and then come down.”

  “Understood,” she replied, and then my transponder beeped.

  I took one last look in my mirror, checked that my revolvers lay somewhat hidden under the long coat, and then glanced around my suite. I didn’t like the idea of leaving Persephone and traveling on another ship, but we couldn’t really arrive on her. Across the Nordar clans, it was common knowledge that the Vaish had Shadow Eagles, and while we might be able to claim that Toriton had acquired one, it would probably raise too many eyebrows.

  “I’ll be back, Persephone,” I said, and even though I expected a response from the winged woman, I didn’t get one, so I turned and left my room without another word.

  The bridge was just a skeleton crew. Rin, Yui, Kalan, Vikana, Hegeia, Uma, Waiola, and Milda were sitting in the gunner seats, but it was only Nikki upfront, and the nine women stood when I walked around the elevator.

  “This is farewell for a bit,” I said, and the women nodded after they saluted me.

  “We look forward to your victory,” Nikki said.

  “Thanks,” I replied. “You have command of Persephone.”

  “Thank you, Adam,” Nikki replied. “I will await your orders to pick you up on Dia-Prism 5.”

  I nodded at her, turned, and then walked back to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, I sensed movement behind me, and I closed my eyes as I felt arms circle my stomach and Persephone’s head press against my back.

  “I almost thought you weren’t going to say goodbye,” I whispered.

  “Naaww,” she replied as she squeezed me a bit harder.

  “This will be easy, and I’ll be back in less than a day. Just need to go kick some ass and conquer another one of these clans. Then I have only one more before they are all united.”

  “Eyyye yah,” she whispered, and then I felt her lips press against the back of my neck. A shiver descended my spine, but then the doors to the elevator opened, and I no longer felt her arms or lips.

  I walked to the armory and found the group piecing together the last of their equipment. Madalena, Lux, Calisto, Mikhael, Josefinna, and Dragon all wore Idonan uniforms and were armed with the Nordar pulse weapons, but Sivaha wore a tight-fitting black dress that was somehow more skin than black cloth. The garment exposed her shoulders, cleavage, lean stomach, and legs in ways that seemed to defy physics, and she held a brutal looking submachine gun in her hand.

  “Uhhh, the plan was to wear an Idonan uniform,” I said to her as I tried to keep my eyes focused on her beautiful face and not the abundant amount of skin she was showing.

  “Yes, but that is soooo boring,” she sighed. “I feel sexier in a sexy dress, and I feel even sexier in a sexy dress when I am spraying bullets into people I dislike.”

  “We also said pulse weapons,” I said as I gestured to her submachine gun.

  “I like the way it bucks in my hand,” she said with a shrug. “It tries to thrash against my control, but then I tame it to my purposes. The pulse rifle is effective but boring.”

  “I could not convince her to--” Madalena started to say, but then my other wife interrupted her.

  “Madalena and I are wearing hooded white robes and traveling as Aasne’s handmaidens. Look.” The silver-haired woman slung her submachine gun back over her shoulder, reached for a white robe hanging on the shelf next to her, and then wiggled her delicious body as she slid into it. Once she had the garment on, she raised the hood, and then shrugged.

  “We are wearing the hoods just in case someone recognizes us,” the Prime Valkyrie said, and I could feel her try to stifle her annoyance.

  “And if they ask to look at us, they still won’t believe who we are. Placement dissonance. Why would the Prime Valkyrie and Queen of the Vaish be escorting the Queen of the Idonan?”

  “Because the Queen of the Idonan is now Vaish,” Madalena said.

  “That will be too many dots to connect,” Sivaha said. “I just hate uniforms. They are for people who follow rules. I also hate rules. Besides, I have my abilities. It won’t matter if King Goki guesses at our deception since it will be too late for him at that point. Any guard or warrior that asks to see us I will charm. You have nothing to worry about, Prime Valkyrie.”

  Madalena looked at me, but her emotions were a strange mix of annoyance and humor. As much as Sivaha’s antics frustrated the Prime Valkyrie, I knew the two women liked and respected each other.

  “We don’t have time for you to get changed,” I said. “Just keep the robe on.”

  “I will,” Sivaha said. “Thank you, husband.”

  “Everyone ready?” I asked as Dragon handed me a pulse rifle, and the rest of my crew nodded.

  We walked out of the armory and into the hold. The docking tube was already extended, and we all took our seats inside the shuttle before Josefinna flew us away from Persephone and to the Idonan marked destroyer. It was one of the newest ships in the fleet, with the most advanced warpdrives, but it was still a great deal slower than Persephone. We would make it to Dia-Prism 5 an hour after engaging the warpdrive, whereas my manta ray shaped ship would make it there in five minutes.

  The captain of the destroyer met us in the loading dock, and he thanked me half a dozen times for choosing his ship for this mission. I thanked him for volunteering, and then I asked him to take Sivaha, Madalena, and me to Aasne.

  The captain led us to a large suite where we found my freckled-faced wife being tended to by four beauticians. Two women were twisting and braiding her long auburn hair into a complicated series of knots wound with flowers. Another woman carefully applied makeup to her face, and the fourth was painting her nails. Aasne wore a snow white dress, but most of the garment was concealed by a black robe that prevented makeup, nail polish, or hair product from accidently getting on the dress.

  “Hello, husband.” Her face brightened as she saw me in the mirror, and I felt a bit of my breath leave my body when I saw the job that the makeup artist had done. I already thought the young woman was beautiful, but her natural features were exponentially enhanced by the shades of red and cream applied to her cheeks, and the colors were perfectly mixed to showcase her bright green eyes.

  “You look beautiful,” I said.

  “Thank you,” she replied, and her cheeks blushed a bit. “I’ve been in this chair for three hours, so I’m glad you like it.”

  An announcement came over the communication system in the Nordar language, and I guessed it was alerting us that we were about to enter warpdrive. I was proven correct a few moments later when I felt the ship lurch and then steady.

  “Do you have your weapons under all that ornamentation?” Sivaha asked as she gestured to the dress.

  “Yes,” Aasne replied. “My hand is actually on the grip on my pistol right now.”

  “Good,” Madalena replied.

  “How much longer do you need?” I asked the four women working on Aasne.

  “Another three quarters of an hour,” one of the replied.

  “You are cutting it close,” I said, and then I turned back to Aasne. “We’ll be on the planet in an hour.”

  “I will be ready,” she said.

  “I will stay here with Aasne,” Sivaha said.

  “I would also like to stay,” Madalena replied as she smiled at me.

  “Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll meet you all in the hold.”

  I made my way back through the destroyer’s hallways and met up with the rest of my crew. They were all sitting patiently by the loading dock, and I sat on a passenger seat next to a meditating Dragon, and closed my own eyes.

  “What do you feel before a battle?” he asked after we had sat together for a few moments.

  “Anticipation, I think,” I said after I thought about his question.

  “Search deeper. Fear, anticipation, and misgivings are what humans feel. You are so much more.”

  “So you keep trying to convince me,” I laughed.

&
nbsp; “And it is working. You took another woman and conquered her clan. The old you would have felt remorse even though all other solutions would have cost more lives.”

  “I gave her a choice,” I said. “She didn’t have to submit to me.”

  “The best kinds of lies are wrapped in truths,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, and I opened my eyes to look at him.

  “You offered her a choice, but there really was not one. How could she say no to you?”

  “She could have said no,” I replied. “I would have been fine with an alliance that didn’t involve her submitting to me.”

  “Ahh, but she wouldn’t,” he said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It is the way of females,” he began. “I have told this to you before, and she even said it herself: women want the strongest of men. They want to be dominated, possessed, and inseminated by a male that is superior. You think you offered her a choice, and perhaps it made your human persona feel good about itself, but the reality is that there was never a choice for the young woman. She wanted you to claim her. I have seen her eyes when she looks at you. She hungers for you like a starving woman, and she would do anything to gain your favor. This is how all the women that surround you are. You just have not realized it.”

  “Ahhh, Dragon,” I chuckled. “You certainly are an interesting guy.”

  “Perhaps that is true,” he laughed with me. “Back to our original question. What do you feel? It is not anticipation.”

  “Ahhh,” I said as I closed my eyes again and searched within my emotions. For half a moment, I wondered why I was indulging the man, but we had about an hour left before the landing, and I preferred to speak with him than sit in silence.