Zed leaned over and gave Athena a quick kiss on the cheek. Her eyes widened. “I see you and I feel you, Athena, yet you think with another part of your existence. Your eyes widened when I kissed you, and I’ll bet you didn’t even think about it. You also are greater than the sum of your parts.” He smiled. “You just didn’t realize it… until now.”
“You’re beginning to make us afraid, Zed.”
“Welcome to the world of a thinking, feeling being. Life is full of fear. A human is afraid of dying, afraid of the dark, afraid of those stronger than him, afraid of rejection and is sometimes even afraid of living. You learn to live with that fear, reject it or accept it and move on. You can’t let fear dominate your life.” He touched Athena’s cheek gently. “I find focusing on love helps.”
“You didn’t do anything to ease my fear, Zed.”
“I wasn’t trying to.” He gave her a wink. “Join me for a swim?”
She drew him close and held him for a long moment, in a purely human gesture. “We’ve missed you Zed.”
“I’ve never been away.” He returned the embrace, and then before things became complicated, broke the hug to turn for the pool. “Swim!” He concentrated on board shorts and suddenly he was clad in his favorite swimsuit. He hit the water in a racing dive and began to do laps. He had just pulled himself up onto the island when he found his arms full of warm wet woman.
“Why didn’t you let me know you were here?” Boadicea murmured into his ear.
“I just woke a few minutes ago. I was recovering…” Her lips met his, and for a moment Zed was worried that Boadicea would remove the very fillings from his teeth with her playful tongue. He pulled away when his body began to respond to her warmth and her kisses. “No!” He said in as firm a voice as he could manage.
“But Zed…” Boadicea snuggled closer. “I’ve learned so many interesting things in The Joy of Sex, and in the Karma Sutra I read about…”
Zed pulled away and stood up. “Oh Hell No! I said no and I meant no.”
A laughing LOLA handed him a tall frosty glass containing a sunset colored drink with a small red bamboo and paper umbrella. “This should cool you down.”
He sipped. “It may take more than that.”
“You’re going to have to give in eventually, Zed. Your resistance is superhuman, but then neither Athena, Boadicea nor I are human. Cybele has expressed no small interest in you herself, more than once.”
“You’re right, LOLA but it won’t be today, so you and your sisters can turn off the charm and go back to being your sweet loveable selves.”
“You think we’re loveable?” She batted her long dark eyelashes at him.
“Quit fishing, short stuff. You know what I feel.”
The playful look slipped from LOLA’s face. “I know that you miss Katherine terribly, and worry about her all the time. You worry about your crew and you worry about us, and what we might be developing into.” She stepped close, putting her hand on his chest. “We are lucky to have you, brother.” Her smile returned. “Lie down and I’ll give you a massage.”
Zed stretched out on the grass, on his stomach. “Stick with the back and shoulders.” When LOLA gave a disgusted little snort he laughed.
Mike looked surprised to find Zed on the bridge of the Belerophon, leaning back in his newly repaired seat sipping a steaming cup of coffee. Mike flopped down in his own chair. “How are you feeling, boss?”
Zed gave him a wry look. “Better. You know my background. My old body was so battered The Morrigan decided it was easier just to build a new one.” He nodded at the view-screen. “How are things going?”
“Pretty well, considering. We’re still looking at the better part of a month before we can continue on our way. I’m afraid the destroyer with the women is getting farther and farther away, and we’ll never find them.” He shook his head. “We don’t even know where to start with the Rose.”
“I expected that.” Zed replied slowly. “Stick with the Belerophon, for the moment. How is Caithlexa doing?”
Mike let out a small mocking laugh. “Other than a major case of hero worship directed at you, very well.”
“How about our new allies?”
“The first problem is that nobody can get their mouths wrapped around the damned language, even if we could understand it. The second issue is… let me show you.” He touched a control and zoomed the screen on a Myrthraa warrior.
Zed leaned forward in his seat. “I would call that a big bipedal Klingon cat.”
The warrior stood two meters tall, and was garbed in full body armor, making his or her specifics somewhat vague. A heavy ridge of bone ran down the center of the creature’s catlike skull starting at the blunt black nose and ending hidden in the fur at the nape of the neck, giving the face a perpetual scowl. The ears were long, pointed and swept back from the sleek fur of the face, and two canine teeth protruded a finger length from the top of the mouth, ending somewhere around mid-jaw. The pupils of the eyes were black and slitted in brilliant golden irises. Long claws extended from fingers wrapped around some sort of heavy slug throwing weapon. As it turned Zed saw a wickedly curved sword sheathed on its back.
“Yeah, me too.” Mike echoed. “What’s a Klingon?”
“They were a race of fictional warriors in twentieth and twenty first century movies created by Gene Roddenberry. Have you heard of Star Trek?”
“I read about it once in a history course.”
Zed groaned. “Never mind.”
“I met one of these characters the first day we got here, while you were still in the body shop. His handshake almost broke my fingers. They thought it was funny and I gather he was simply being friendly.”
Zed looked at the ceiling. “Did you get that LOLA?”
“Don’t worry about a simple handshake, Zed. He won’t damage you. You, on the other hand, could bend steel bars with no great effort. Your worry will be not hurting him… too greatly. The Myrthraa treat pain as an occupational hazard, more to be courted than avoided.”
“A race of masochistic cats. Wonderful.” Zed shook his head.
“They enjoy inflicting pain almost as much as they seem to enjoy receiving it.”
“They are our allies now, correct?”
LOLA laughed. “Humans fought and died valiantly against overwhelming odds to save the planet Myrth. It has been declared that the Terrans and the Myrthraa are forever brothers-in-arms. The word the Myrthraa use for brothers-in-arms I couldn’t begin to pronounce.” Several squat camouflaged vehicles pulled up onto the ramp, disgorging a dozen fearsome warriors. “It looks as though General T'nudluk has arrived for the memorial ceremony. This is your queue, Zed. Remember, when you smile do NOT show your teeth. Showing teeth is a challenge to the Myrthraa.”
“I’m so excited.” Zed took a breath and rose to his feet.
“Is it my imagination or do you look taller?” Mike frowned up at him.
“The ladies thought that it would increase my status with the Myrthraa if I were taller. I wasn’t consulted.” He added dryly. Looking down at his worn jeans and flannel shirt, he grimaced. “Something more appropriate is in order, I think. Make it space black, and send along Dimitri and Larisa, similarly attired as an honor guard.”
“Now you’re getting into the swing of it.” LOLA commented brightly from the air above them. Zed sparkled and in a moment was clothed in space black, broken only by three silver pips on the high uncomfortable military collar, silver braid at the cuffs, and a silver figure of Belerophon astride Pegasus holding a spear rested on his left breast. His shiny leather boots came nearly to his knees, a knife hilt protruding from the right boot top.
“Holy crap!” Mike said, standing. “Now THAT is a uniform that demands respect.”
“Thank you, Michael.” LOLA said in a soft, sensual voice. Mike swallowed. “Are you ready Captain?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Are Dimitri and Larisa ready?”
“They’re waiting in the airlock.”
“Then I suppose I shouldn’t delay the dog and pony show any longer.” Zed turned and headed for the lift.
The black nanite ramp flowing out of the Belerophon caused a sensation among the assembled troops that bordered on panic. Things settled down somewhat when only Zed, flanked by Dimitri and Larisa descended. Dimitri in his black uniform looked like death on two legs. Larisa looked both deadly and competent, and very much a woman. Her uniform hugged her curves like a glove. They both carried energy weapons that could have vaporized every living thing within a kilometer in a matter of seconds. The three came to a frozen stop before the Myrthraa delegation and waited. In the front rank one of the warriors, his eyes glued to Larisa turned his head slightly, and hissed something to his companion. The companion replied with a snort, and made a gesture that clearly showed they were speaking of Larisa’s more prominent attributes. Zed turned his head slightly, and gave her a slight nod. Larisa Borisyuk almost smiled as she handed her rifle to Dimitri. With a slow deadly grace she walked up to the front rank of soldiers and faced the one who had made the first comment. The Myrthraa stared down at the woman, and slowly drew back his lips to reveal his teeth. Larisa seemed to exhale for a moment before she exploded in motion, the heel of her boot striking the temple of the Myrthraa warrior in a classic back spinning kick. The warrior dropped as if poleaxed. Larisa walked back to Dimitri and retrieved her weapon as if nothing had happened. Zed caught her eye and flicked a glance to a distant tree. Larisa raised her gun and fired in one smooth movement. A few seconds later the thunderclap of the detonation rolled over them as they stood, watching the small mushroom cloud rise to the sky.
Zed stood at parade rest, while Dimitri and Larisa stood at port arms, weapons not quite pointing at the Myrthraa. Zed held his breath. To his relief, General T'nudluk began to laugh, or he had a hairball in his throat. After a moment the General turned to his ranks of troops and spat out a few quick commands, pointing to the fallen warrior. The gist of what the general said was, as far as Zed could gather, ‘get this furry piece of offal out of my sight. He embarrassed us all. I want him driving a garbage truck in our most distant province by nightfall, and somebody please find out how the bloody hell she did that!’
The general turned back to Zed and held out his hand. Zed took the offered hand and, in perfectly understandable Myrthraan language said, “No hard feelings?”
General T'nudluk’s golden eyes went wide. “You speak our language?”
“I do, my people do not.” Zed felt the pressure increasing on the grip. The general gave him a non-tooth baring grin. Zed let the pressure increase for a few more seconds before he squeezed back. When the General let out a sharp meow of pain he released his grip instantly.
The general looked at his hand and then at Zed. “What are you?”
“I am your friend, general, if you will have me, and a friend to your world.”
Still rubbing his hand, General T'nudluk gave him a long look. “What do you want?”
“One thing, General T'nudluk. The location of the Creednax homeworld.” He gave the general a closed mouth grin. “We could also use some processed metals. It will save time on the repair of our ship.”
General T'nudluk barked a hissing laugh, and slapped Zed’s shoulder so hard it almost knocked him down. “We can help you on both counts, my friend. Welcome to Myrth. The planet is yours.”
Zed looked around at the faces in the Dining Hall cum Lounge. “…then he basically gave us the keys to the city.”
“Are we going to get any money for this… ye know, loot?” A young engineer asked, a hopeful look on his face.
“What do they have that we can’t make right here, in quantity? The female Myrthraa aren’t compatible with human males,” Zed shuddered at the thought. “and some of their food and drink is toxic to us. They offered us freely the single thing I really wanted… their friendship. We have another ally in our battle with the Creednax. They are also supplying us processed metal which will make our repairs go faster, and their scientists think they may know the location of the Creednax homeworld. You were all there at the memorial ceremony. I cut things short because of our Myrthraa guests. Now that I have the time I want to thank you all for what you’ve done, and for what you have sacrificed. When the ship is repaired we will be on our way to retrieve the women the Creednax took hostage. We may have been delayed, but we have not been stopped, by god. We are burying our dead on this world, rather than launch them into space. The blood of our fallen is mixing with this soil, and this land, and we have emerged victorious. The Creednax will rue the day they ever met the Terrans, for we will wipe them from our galaxy forever.”
Zed never expected the cheering that followed, and he felt the flush rise in his cheeks. “For the next three days there will be minimum manning. The rest of you can take some time off. This airfield is in a remote location, so go hiking if you wish. Don’t go alone, however. Supervisors, schedule things accordingly. Give everyone some time off. The drinking lamp is lit. Dismissed.”
"Dear Missus Nesterov.” Zed began the letter. “I regret to inform you that your son Alexandyr, who was a valued member of our International Strike Team, was killed recently in a battle with humanities enemy, the Creednax. He fought valiantly, and is a credit to his shipmates and his planet. I realize that this is small comfort to you at a time like this but…” Zed paused to take a sip of cold coffee from his cup, and continued writing. He finished the letter, signed it, and added it to the pile he had written on the side of his desk. Out of a crew of 35, he had managed to lose 8. At those odds he couldn’t afford too many battles. The Morrigan had been right; he would lose more ships and more people. He wished for the millionth time that he’d stayed a Flight Engineer. Finally he signed the last letter and added it to the pile. He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. Soft hands began to massage his neck and he sagged in his seat.
“That feels very nice, LOLA. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Zed. I’m surprised that you’re using paper.” She said, looking at eh pile on his desk.
“There are times,” Zed murmured a little sadly. “When the formality of paper is called for. Sending condolences to parents and family is one of those times. My signature tells the reader that I’ve actually taken the time to write and sign the letter myself.”
“If you like, I’ll take those letters for you, stick them in envelopes and make sure Athena gets them out on the Agronaute when she heads back for Earth. The Earth crew can see that they are distributed.”
Zed looked up. “They are to be personally hand delivered, LOLA. Our crew and their families deserve no less.”
“I’ll see to it, Zed.” She gave him an embarrassed look.
“Okay, what is it?” He tried to glare at her.
“It’s your turn to cook dinner tonight.”
“What???”
“We thought that it might be a good way, at least once a week, of getting your mind off things.”
Zed leaned back and laughed. “You might regret that decision, my dear. Taste is entirely subjective, you know.”
“I know.” LOLA grouched. “Athena hates anchovy pizza.” Zed shuddered.
“I’ll think about it. Are you meat eaters?” LOLA’s eyes narrowed. “You aren’t vegetarians then.” Zed added hastily. “How many will I be cooking for?”
“Six, if you would like to bring Mike Flaherty along.”
Zed found Mike watching the nanites install a new carbon fiber beam in a damaged section of the Belerophon. Nanites on the ground would construct the beam from a pile of steel Myrthraan girders, and lifters would hoist the completed beam up and over the ship, lowering it into the damaged area where other nanites would be waiting to ‘weld’ the new beam in place, bonding it on a molecular level. Damage had been so extensive that hull skin replacement wouldn’t begin for days yet.
Zed touched the big Marine on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”
Mike turned. “Fine. You finished your paperwor
k?”
“The last of the condolence letters went out to Athena. She will make sure they get to Earth.”
“Condolence letters are probably my least favorite job.” Mike muttered, wincing.
Zed stood by Mike’s side for a few moments, watching the activity. “The ladies suggested I ask you to dinner tonight, if you’re not busy.”
Mike turned and gave Zed a long look. “I had planned on meeting Caithlexa this evening. Things have been so busy we haven’t had much time together.” He said it all without blushing, Zed noted.
LOLA was silent for a moment.
LOLA gave a long silvery peal of laughter.
“Really?” Mike’s face sobered. “She’s going to freak.”
Zed grinned. “LOLA said the same thing.”
Mike returned the grin. “Let’s do it.”
“You might lose a girlfriend if you do.”
Mike shrugged. “It will be worth it.” He clambered from the saucer disk back to the ground, Zed right behind him. “Let’s find Caithlexa.”
“We’re going where?” Caithlexa’s voice rose several octaves. Mike gave Zed a helpless look.
“I remember that LOLA had a little ‘talk’ with you, right?” Zed questioned. The girl nodded, blushing. “Have you ever wondered exactly where LOLA goes when she’s not around? She explained the math to me once, and I really don’t understand but… she goes to a small pocket, or parallel universe that she and the other AI’s have access to. They call this universe Olympus, after ancient Earth mythology. Olympus was, according to ancient humans, the home of the gods.” He laughed softly. “We’re going there for dinner.”
...and they are us 3: HiveWorld Page 10
