The next level had blood boiling. Far as the eye could see in hundreds of columns were cloning tubes complete with naked floating men all as grotesque as Ten K. Each one having a device attached to their temple, a neural stimulator that is used to implant memories. Scythe hefted his battleaxe and flew over to a console flashing red, read it to yell “Brothers! There is a countdown of fifteen minutes. This ship is going to blow!”
“That makes no sense. Chandler is a coward who isn’t ready to die. He’s a rat and rats survive. Why make a panic room… unless…” Vanishing Claw drifted for a mere moment.
“It can resist a blast of such magnitude and is really his private shuttle he was seen leaving in from Verard. It was designed to be rather tough because he made many enemies while running Galicom. But he hasn’t left yet. The loss of power is preventing his cowardly escape. In the aftermath of an explosion no one would see his shuttle vanish and let him start all over again. It’s his contingency plan.”
“We need a primary console that can deactivate the self-destruct.” Talon said. “So you can do it with your Valek. It’s bound to be impossible with our hacking equipment.”
“Agreed. You all keep going. I’ll be faster alone. Help my Pride if they require it.” He didn’t wait for a response as a bubble shifted around him and he disappeared and reappeared on the emptied bridge to find all the consoles smashed beyond repair. As were many hard-line ports for ancient methods of computing devices. It would be impossible to stop the countdown for anyone else.
A tendril repaired a port and accessed the ship’s functions in mere moments, running the display through his chip so he could literally see the damage levels. Marines were breaching the docks from all sides. Flashing red areas showed the engines were severed from power lines… until he accessed the countdown sequence and bypassed the security protocols without any effort. He snorted in the poisoned room at how easy it was for his prowess. Then he deactivated the hidden explosives running throughout the ship, frying them from ever being used again since explosives were illegal in the Empire.
Cowardly too.
Inside the panic room Chandler slumped in defeat as he stared at the armored man on the bridge withdrawing the Multi-tool a moment before tearing a gaping hole in the windows. All the air was violently sucked out and took maybe two minutes. He couldn’t even respond when the room was yelling. He knew right then as soon as the countdown vanished and turned green that is was over. He was over.
Oliver had decided to let the vacuum of space sanitize the entire level before placing a barrier of his own over the hole he created to watch as nanites in the glass thinned it to cover over in minutes while oxygen and nitrogen filled the cabin before thick white mist was pumped in. Microbe scrubbers combined with Keptl residue and broke it down to clear the area. When scans revealed all danger was taken care of the window sealed back up. It took less time to do it that way than wait more minutes for what he and Renee did earlier to clear the worst dangers.
It wouldn’t have had time to finish sanitizing the poison as they were meant to do with the self-destruct initiated.
“All clear!” He relayed to the team and moments later a hole in the floor was created and dozens came gliding up.
“Good thinking releasing all the doors for the Marines and our siblings, Brother. It saved loads of time.” Vanishing Claw grinned behind the mask. “Thousands of armed men and women are locking this whole place down. Now it’s time to finish this.”
The oldest living Hunter stood in front of the only closed door on the ship and yelled “Chandler, open up and surrender.”
“That you, Claw?” came the calmly defeated voice Oliver had heard only once back on Verard during a clip on GNN. “Come to put me down like a dog I suppose.”
“You know you cannot win. You’ve never bested me and I’ve not sat on my ass for centuries. I’ve done something worthwhile while you illegally undermined our nation’s fundamental principals. You know you have only two options. Open up and face your crime or kill yourself. But we both know you and the others with you are too cowardly to do it because you know when we do it it’ll be quick and clean. Choose.”
A hard edge laced the man’s tone through the intercom. “I’ve changed, Claw. It’s been centuries and you’ll never take me alive.” Followed by a woman’s scream.
“Let me knock.” Said Renee as she came to stand with the two men. Before either could stop her she raised a fist and punched a hole through the thick titanium and carbide door with her extreme power. “Hmm, it was open all along.” With an opening made Vanishing Claw and Oliver dove in just as Chandler beheaded a man in a green cloak.
Chandler tried to take another life, but a shortsword locked hilts with a larger broadsword Star-saber made of lime green, twisted and disarmed the man. Oliver followed up with a large metal boot to the face that sent the man flipping end over end into a wall. Chandler crumpled.
“You saved us! He was going to kill us all!” Praised a peach haired woman of great beauty. A sun yellow woman nodded too. They tried to touch Oliver.
Big ass mistake.
“Mine, Bitches!” Renee came in, easily a head taller than both, grabbed a fistful of hair and cracked their skulls together. Renee then did it three more times as they screamed. “This is for Deegen and Bell you whores!” Renee’s wrath was in full swing as she beat the two supermodels bloody and passed them off to Stone and Steven who happily broke multiple ribs and arms. Not enough to kill them, but to finally get vengeance. Then Javelin took custody, carrying both unconscious and bloodied woman.
Chandler came around as arrests were made to the other survivors and Renee was closing a heart wound of a man he attempted to murder first. Her Valek able to keep the blood flowing rather than let him die. Then he saw a sword’s tip and followed it up to meet burning blue eyes, the unassuming face twisted with tempered wrath. “Again I defeat you. Stand up and face the wall, hands behind your back.”
Chandler’s broken nose made it difficult to breathe, but he followed the command and felt the cold metal seal his fate. Vanishing Claw spun him around and came face to face with the giant armored wall with amber eyes. “Had you not been alive I would have won… as I always do.”
“Did. Past tense. You are a bitter fool who needed more spankings. You brought this on yourself. All the bad things you have done are in the open and I’m glad to help. You are selfish and you destroyed Jenniviq and Vladamin, two priceless treasures of my people.”
Chandler laughed. “Who said anything about destroy? They’re in safe keeping. Take my execution off the table and I’ll tell you where they are.”
The room listened, but didn’t wait long for the smooth reply from the giant. “No. I’ll just take your memory and the Valek so you cannot break free as you are planning.”
Chandler screamed madly as his mind was broken into by a far greater telepath. In the recent memories he saw Chandler use his Valek on the cores and used it to transfer the data to a Human model storage crystal before breaking the core’s link to the cities they operated and reused the materials for other things since each core was the purest crystal ever found. Chandler wanted to preserve the puzzle pieces in event the clones failed. After Oliver found where the units were stored he reached out with his right hand and linked his Valek with Chandler’s. He discovered the removal code weeks ago and everyone watched at the vambrace that had been on Chandler’s arm for centuries broke apart like ash. “Take him, Claw. I’ve got some faces to see again.” Oliver walked to the corner of the room, typed in a code and from the wall slid a case that opened and the artificial units appeared. Jenniviq said in delight “Master, you found us!” Vladamin merely nodded.
Chandler and the detainees eventually were led to a dock where the Emperor waited. “Hello again, Chandler. Seems this time you can’t worm your way out. You’ve got no one to blame but yourself. I must say you look prettier now.” Coleson touched his own nose.
Chandler spat and missed, but the Emperor cam
e in and clocked Chandler in the jaw so precisely and hard the man was out cold before hitting the ground. “Damn that felt good. Vanishing Claw, put him in isolation and post round the clock guards till all the Elders show up and he is put on trial and executed. I’ve got a ship to inspect and a promise to uphold. Davan Took, are you ready?”
“Yes, Emperor.” The man came up, no longer in cuffs after willingly being vouched by the Emperor that he was innocent and would never harm anyone unless in defense of children. Multiple telepaths verified the truth. Markeese Coleson even telepathically did it and pardoned the man. Together with Marines, personal agents, scientists and engineers they went deeper in the enemy vessel. Coleson’s first order of business was “Destroy the clones, their facilities and…”
Chapter 5
“That ugly mug of yours hasn’t changed a bit since I last saw you in the flesh five centuries back, Jake.”
“Aye, and yers still couldn’t be loved by yer own mother, Markeese.” Jake Dorgen took a knee as both men laughed and embraced warmly as old friends. “How’s me lass been treating ye?”
“I’d swear she was you if I couldn’t tell she was a woman. She’s like you in every other way. You Scotts certainly are a passionate lot without a filter for that mouth.” The Emperor stepped away, taking in the full impact of the giant’s appearance. “Still wearing skirts?”
Jake playfully slapped the man upside his bald head as Andrea laughed off to the side, cradling their son David.
It had been a month since the former president of Galicom was captured along with his two mates who all conspired together for more power and influence over their fellow man. Oliver walked away from old friends reuniting and scooped his woman up into his arms, missing her from his mind for over a day after going to collect the captain and Andrea Loke as well as their son. Renee yelped at his stealthy capture and loved his deep laugh before giving him a kiss. She then slapped his chest to be put down and said “Don’t scare me like that!”
A soft gurgling laugh drew both their attention to stare down at Isabella sitting between Rose’s claws staring right up at her parents with innocent eyes a mix of green and gold. In the month that passed, Isabella now looked more like the average of a ten month old baby, but could understand things as if she were between two and three years. Renee’s breast milk had all but dried up in the past four days and Isabella ate a compacted Beast pill about the size as a grain of rice as before, every week. Her appetite at this age was enormous, but would taper off a little when puberty settles in. As the naked baby girl, already potty trained on command, sat between Drake claws playing in the lush grass, she raised her arms for Daddy to pick her up.
“There’s my little girl.” One large hand swooped down and threw her up eight meters high before catching. Isabella shrilled as only a baby could. Renee put a hand on a hip, admiring him playing with their child and blowing raspberries on her little tummy. Eliciting another gurgling laugh that warmed the heart.
“She’s grown even faster than David.” Andrea said as she came inside the gate where lays the pyramid they had been residing for a month and a half.
“Hey there, Andrea.” Renee turned at the woman who was a descendant of India. Caramel skin, black hair. “I see you’ve been hitting the equipment down in level ten.”
“A woman’s figure is her life. I’m still not back to my Olympian precision, but I’ve lost all my pregnancy weight finally.” Andrea said as she was a renowned gymnast despite being more importantly known for the discovery of Havanna’s Solarian nursery center and a foremost expert scientist on many historic topics.
“Never had that problem.” Renee gloated, patting her solid stomach under a white dress.
“Screw you. You didn’t have to worry about carrying to full term. You went a few months, I suffered over half a year carrying your brother.”Andrea looked down at her arms to the dark redheaded baby boy contently asleep in her arms.
“He still got that cold?” she asked, ending the banter early, trying not to wake him.
“Yeah, and a little colic. The herbal tea in his milk tends to help. It did with my other rugrats too. At least his fever is down a bit.”
“I was sick a lot Papa tells me. We should try a little Beast blood mixed in too. Isabella seems to sleep better two weeks ago when she had stomach problems.”
“You sure raw blood is safe?”
“When she was fussy I had some blood on my fingers during a meal and she latched on like she did my nipple before I went dry. She had no bad reaction. It didn’t change her double helix, but it did bolster her immune system and digestive tract when she started eating soft solids.”
“We can try… highness?” Andrea flicked the crown and yelped when it suddenly opened and clamped on her finger like a small animal before letting go. “That hurt.”
“Don’t screw with the Solarian Queen of Fire. I’ll burn you crispy. It’s not real silver. It’s a part of my armor.”
“Think long and hard on that did you?”
“Oh screw you.” Renee grinned, glared in a playful way and returned to watch her daughter and man bonding. “How’s the freezer city?”
“Same as ever. Seems Stephanie and I were spot on. What artifacts remained in the dwellings proved that Ice was like a retirement place, but we discovered something else and are assuming based on evidence that Ice held the least power among Solarian society, but conversely they were those who gave wisdom and were the watchers. The Elders. They had the least military presence, but they, pardon the pun, coldly dealt out wisdom and law. We also discovered a chamber displaying the three hundred governing laws around what appears to be the queen’s throne and a place for a council of judges of some sort. Quelette wasn’t too helpful, but there is no other explanation Stephanie and I could come up with.”
“No wonder why you and Oliver felt so out of place there.” Sparky said, sniffing David and giving the baby’s cheek a little lick in greeting. Andrea didn’t fear he’d ever harm her son. “Greetings, Andrea.” She smiled at the great Drake. “You are alive with passion. Cold and calculating you are not.”
“And it was too bland and lifeless for my tastes. I need a little color. If my favorite color is black or white, I couldn’t live long in snow. Waiting for Izzy was hard enough to test my patience.”
“Yet you would do it again to be a mother. It suits you.” Complimented Rose, sending uplifted emotion as Isabella began squeezing Oliver’s cheeks while being blown in the face.
“True. Having Izzy changed my whole world. Hormones really alter personality. And she’s just yummy.”
“She like her toes nibbled on too?” Came’s Jake’s deep voice as he entered the room. “Yer brother loves it.”
“Hey Papa, glad you could come.” Renee hugged his waist.
“I’d not miss the execution for much more than a family emergency. Ye can be assured there is a line wanting to do the honors Stone and Steven were granted. All this week the crew ate popcorn during the trial televised on GNN. By the way, Lass, ye did good when the news broke about… well ye know.”
“We kept it a secret for over a year, Papa. Markeese made it too difficult to say no after showing us footage of a focus group given all the information except about us. The group realized someone had to know Solarian to break the code you spent your whole life trying to uncover. And by how fast we’ve been finding the cities… well it was time Olly’s story was told. I rather liked seeing the faces of people as the story broke about how we found him. And getting calls from old classmates realizing I’m now a queen…”
“It is just a title, Lass. I’m king of the pirates, but so long as ye do not let it make ye think yerself above anyone I won’t put ye over me knee.” He was serious.
“Don’t worry. I don’t like people enough to deal with a whole lot of their bullshit. But it is great the five-some are my bodyguards.”
“Talking about us?” Flew in Satellite who landed on the granite dining table. The falcon folded his wings an
d walked over the table and Renee didn’t hesitate to give a scratch under the chin.
“In a good way, Satellite. You know I never have a problem with neither you or Visor. It’s your counterparts that tend to get in trouble.”
“At least Stone isn’t like Steven.” He chirped.
“You simplify too lightly his benefits as a thinking creature.” Snorted Sparky.
Satellite laughed and glanced when the Emperor’s secret agents preceded the man inside. “The council of Elders decided that the executions will begin in two hours. Oliver, Elder Claw also wants me to ask if you’ll create a pain device like Archiver Tammat wore. He’s finally decided to take you up on the Pride offer and knows it’s an honor… even after remembering what Nova did back then.”
“Did he say what kind…” Oliver began and was cut off.
“Oh, right, he wants an earring. One that won’t get in the way of his armor.”
“No problem. It’ll be ready when we meet topside.” Satellite flew off with the message as the family and friends spoke of the events in a month’s separation and cleaned up before leaving the underground city.
At high noon on Zerika, tens of thousands stood in the once crater now flourishing with grass and life. Great shuttles were clearing the skies after depositing Hunters, Marines and imperial officials as well as reporters.
A silence fell over the masses not for the first time when the majestic Ligers stood proudly in sunlight as soon as leaving the heavily guarded stairs. But what silenced all except the Hunters, was Oliver and Renee holding hands in their battle armor without a helmet on. Him black and hers a pure white that highlighted her crimson hair. She’d only turn it back to black when she believed it necessary. Till then she’d keep it white. Beside them, arm in arm was the Emperor and Empress chatting with Jake and Andrea on either side. Rose never liked crowds and was all too willing to look after the two young children and keep an eye on a posted Hunter detail outside the building.
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