I had additional chairs already in place when I heard they were coming.
“He is her advisor, her protector, her official first counsel, and her sensei. Perhaps you remember him, he pulled a draw against my wife Matawasa at out little games.” They were still bowed.
She corrected that on a sub.
“I am truly sorry, this is still a bit new to me as I am sure it is to you as well. Please rise,” she said.
“I will most likely depart tomorrow. I still have three more systems to bring in line for our defenses,” I told her.
To all the rest of the EMM, I said, “She is life and death, do not treat her lightly.” I looked around.
“I suggest you get this right, to misunderstand is a one-time mistake. Our definition is not the same nor has the same inferred meaning. She is my official Courtesan and a member of our Royal Family. She is going to be a surrogate mother to my wife Brigit and myself. Be very careful of what you say--do, or think of these matters. I also hope she will be able to find a fine husband from within her realm, if not, I will find her one from Camelot.”
She blushed and there were a few smiles and mild giggles.
“Now, if Your Majesty permits, may we bring on an evening of entertainment befitting a queen? We uncultured barbarians are so stupid and inept at these things but we wish to try.” I stifled a smile.
Somewhere, what sounded like a 50 cal went off. “My sniper team, ever vigilant.” All entrances had metal detectors and x-rays, and Rodel’s scanners running. “Just another fool who thinks we actually are stupid. Continue the party,” I said.
She nodded and I told Rodel to clear the floor. 400 youth moved everything to the sides.
A waltz was started and I took the new queen’s hand and asked for a dance. My wives all moved to find suitable men and we started dancing to the music. Whenever I bowed she curtsied and so did all the others.
“Ladies and gentleman, your new Queen.” She blushed and curtsied and we received polite clapping all round.
She was asked to dance by several men. The sensei’s young daughter was popular as a dance partner as well.
Finally she sat on her new throne. Two songs from each type of dance we knew were played, followed by two from all the different countries we didn’t. The entire stadium’s walls were a constant change from Amazon Jungles to Himalayas to Moscow to Madrid, he scanned them all. Wine and champagne, and only one guy would die from his stupidity.
“Well, my new queen, what do you think? Can you handle it?” I asked her.
“I think I am going to kill a certain king.” We all laughed “I am so scared I will screw up,” she said.
“The Sensei is there to guide, follow and you won’t,” I said. “My generals are even now en route, they also will help.”
“I know, still, so many billions of people!” she said.
“They are all yours, treat them well, but totally clean out the scum. No remorse or looking back. Only the good men and women should remain. That is your task until this war is over. I will handle the rest if I can.”
It was very early morning, 3AM. It had seemed to go well. I made one last speech.
“I hope all found the evening enjoyable?” Loud applause. “I have one last item, it is a relaxing period I guess you’d say. If you all would indulge me and move to the edges?”
400 boys and girls ran out, floor sections were removed, large lounge chairs, sofas, love seats, and a couple swing sets were moved into place around a large crackling wood fire in the center, with spots of grass and sand scattered around it. “Please, take comfort were you will. The same one who played for the Father will play a more relaxing tune. He does it on the fly, so please bear with him if he messes it up here and there. Rodel, they are all yours.”
I knew he’d do it, I just knew it. Bagpipes blared something. “RODEL!” They stopped and a little computer robot laughed.
The background changed to beach scenes, lighting off in the distance, a little thunder and soft luscious music, soul soothing music, relaxing music spread upon them.
People hugged and cuddled and listened. They enjoyed each other and their drinks. Around 6AM it all came to an end. Two days of official holiday, then work would begin.
People were most gracious about how wonderful it was and how beautiful the new queen was.
The news groups were all talking about how un-barbaric and refined we could be. Some discussion of ‘looks being deceiving’. Much was about what the seers were and could they really be accurate all the time?
Later that day a new queen was talking to Aawasa and I. “I hope you know what you are doing,” she said.
“So do we, but not about you. You will be fine,” Aawasa said.
“Help them, rule fair but hard. Remember, both presidents have controls and forces in place. We just need total control of all things military. My generals will be here soon to help. Take care of my baby, but it is time to go,” I said. There were tears in her eyes but she controlled them.
I woke Linda and the rest; all were tired, all had some fun. I had her zap everyone—it would be awhile before we slept again.
I had everything packed to the ship that needed to go. I had The Sensei and queen set up in the old NASA Headquarters main hall as official throne until more suitable arrangements could be made.
I had several people executed that morning at sunup including three generals that had offended my wife Brigit. I received 10,000 or more resignations by early afternoon. All went to the queen for replacements, investigations and executions as required. For a few years, if she did it right, it would be a blood bath. Just to clean the old dead wood and establish the fact there was no way to hide.
Rodel installed the security systems and teams to protect her and a certain limo driver volunteered to be her driver/protector.
We set up a Camelot EMM bank balance that ensured our government would not be in debt any time soon.
I gave her a kiss, so did the wives, and we went by space shuttle to the ship. Too much shit.
We stopped at Mars on the way out, long enough to receive those thousands of resignations and install a new sub-queen, a young captain—boy was he surprised. I thought Chief/sub-chief. He received his orders, a long list of executions was given him and we departed for our next stop, thirty-one light years away, a small planet, just below space flight in technology.
A Deadly Enemy Revealed
We relaxed for a couple days. Mostly just sleep, eat, talk. Just a wind down period. Conquering Earth was work, but really hadn’t gone as bad as I originally thought it would.
We set up our strategies for taking the next system, but need not have bothered.
There were almost eight million on this small thriving, recently settled human planet according to the contact reports. Eight million men, women and children. All rotting in the sun, all without heads, some clearly had parts eaten. I got sick, it was far worse than the Great Slaughter.
Linda flew all over, looking for one little spark of life. She found it in a cave; a little boy, 11 or 12, part of his leg had been bitten off, he was buried under a pile of headless bodies, and he was barely alive. Linda’s powers were great, but there was a limit, especially in the mental areas.
She healed what she could. Aawasa said his mind was destroyed. Just death pictures, but she finally got an image. She knew who the HH was now.
The boy was given a bit of a sleep serum and Linda quietly removed his life force that he might rest in peace. He was the only one to be buried.
Puddle Jumpers sent away, all notified. Target identified. Rodel and Aawasa worked up a picture. The order went out: find their planet or planets.
Camelot knew them as Pitaksaabe. Evil sabertooths, but these were humanoid. Fur, snouts, pointed ears, sharp teeth, and two long fangs. Aawasa said these had shorter eyeteeth, shorter tails, red eyes, human-type hands and feet. Our Pitaksaabe were the basis for her design and we re-designated them from Head Hunters to Blood Sabers, as their origin became
known.
At discussion, it was thought it went down like this, yet to be confirmed. The mate of Linda’s Creator was evil, a devil of a bitch, all knew that. We had killed her Koteck.
She knew she was going to the Father but sometime before that she made a new, more advanced race based on what, at that time, was the most feared thing on Camelot. The sabertooth tiger image.
Rodel said she had the whole universe to do it in, but would require mass and energy, so we needed everyone to carry out analyses based on old and new star systems to see where she might have formed new planets. We looked for tapped old system resources, which were similar to what they originally did to Camelot’s sun.
Our Puddle Jumper to Camelot also asked for a new searcher to try a back flight from this system soonest, if developed yet, and a set of four Seekers for here just in case they came back by.
We went to the next system on the list. Also a pre-space technology, but they had a lot of contact with Earth and a few other human planets.
I requested Seekers and searchers on permanent station and we dropped off two of the four we had on board. Rodel programmed a circular course for them. Two could only take out a single ship—we had to hope.
We spent two days there, one to subjugate and one to set up a new government and start the ball rolling toward space defense.
It was easy to take over, already a one-ruler government. Few changes needed. They had a new king, the old was a pig. The new was a she and we moved on.
We were going to enter a fold, there was an emergency abort, and we circled. The jumper detected another ship. It did what it was supposed to, pop through, verify stars, mass scan and pop back.
Rodel analyzed the data—too small. We were on full alert, fully shielded and suited, just in case, as we did the jump.
It was one of the many hundreds of the never mentioned, missing early explorers from NASA. This one left before my original trip. The ship had spent unknown years heading to a star system and even if he’d have made it, it had no habitable planets.
Rodel activated the on boards enough to get recorded data and registration information.
We stripped the survival gear, since I knew where most were. Rodel got the little door opened. The silk was perished but we took the rest.
We sent the ship toward the nearby star, be a few years yet, but it would eventually get there.
Rodel scanned the data. The pilot had a bad jump, just enough damage he couldn’t make another. He lived several years and was quite mad when he opened his suit because, “I am a god and don’t need—” It was the end of his message.
“A fate I was very close to myself, right Rodel?”
“Yes, Sire, we were lucky,” he said.
I kissed Aawasa hard. “Very lucky indeed.”
Time for rest came. Aawasa said until she finished her studies no waves at all, not even a mud puddle.
And so it went, I did my required duties the hard way, I worked. Linda took care of my stamina requirements.
We had a few jumpers left. If all went to plan we would have a knew batch on arrival at our next stop which, so long ago, was my original destination from Earth, Jebedalous.
An estimated two jumps away we got another alert. Rodel said, “Big, single.” We went through full alert, but it was gone and we had ripples.
“Follow it.”
We tried, it made three or more jumps, we lost it somewhere. Rodel went back and tried to find it but it was gone and the waves were too low now for our gear to track. I requested a searcher to this location, leaving us one jumper.
We spent two days to the next fold relearning our space maneuvers.
Info coming in from the planet saying not a lot has changed. Two governments from the original five. One was capitalist, one communist. The capitalist society was thriving, the communist was starving.
Three distinct races with a large mix. Green, brown, black.
They were in a nuclear arms race.
We studied tactics and various plans. This wasn’t Earth that I pretty well knew inside and out.
The communists did not speak English. The capitalists had some from NASA contacts who, for a fee, had given them enough info to start this race going while they bought up materials. Evil was not limited to any one group. Greed was greed, be it political of financial.
Rodel had all the languages and dialects down so our earbuds would do their job.
If I were right the communists, by starving their people, would be ahead in number, if not destructiveness of their armies, missiles, and equipment. We would work on them at the start.
I talked it over, said what I thought would happen. General consensus was we’d find out.
I couldn’t do any frontal assaults. I don’t care how good or fast they are, half naked women wouldn’t win against tanks and machine guns and walls of lead. The bubble was fine, however since nothing went out or in, it would be useless. This task fell to Linda and me.
We went to high orbit. Both governments were rattling sabers after they detected us, each accusing the other of some deceptive tactic. Both had sent us threats and promises and most everything in between.
I was pretty sure the communists would have something in orbit or would send something. We totally ignored them. Rodel verified he could scatter their signals when necessary.
We waited for them to attack. Almost a week later a missile upped from one of the communist country’s outer regions.
Rodel said, “Multiple megaton warheads. At least three. Hard to detect through the EMP-hardened skin but I’d say it contains three short range missiles that will fire when close, attacking from three different angles. As soon as they go active I can tell more on their tracking abilities.”
“So far, right on the money. I want them to think they got us. Total destruction except one girl they may or may not track falling toward them with a big sword and no clue,” I said.
Rodel said, “It will be a kick in the teeth to let them get that close.”
“Not if a certain bombshell happens to be were they are when they go pow and has a bubble around a certain ship and the bubble starts from her sword creating a huge wedge in front of the blast. A deflector shield so to speak,” I said.
“I can do that,” she said.
“From the detonation Rodel causes all their sensors to show perfect hits. Target destroyed. If they can track a sword falling, fine. A certain blond bombshell would fall into their laps. I know you’re one hot babe, but wear your armor down or you’ll get so hot everything will burst into flames around you.”
“Five minutes, I think, five minutes,” Rodel said.
Linda planted a kiss on us all and went out the hatch and headed toward the incoming missile. She turned and waited.
Rodel had been right. The last stage fell apart and fast missiles launched. Just as they got to her she popped the bubble on, about 10 seconds later three nuclear bombs went off. The ship took a jolt but not bad. The bubble disappeared and a beautiful girl fell toward the planet. On screen the ship disappeared and top military people were congratulating themselves on a good job. One sharp radar guy said something appeared to fall from the ship but it was gone.
Linda said the glowing ball of fire with the cool sparks flying off was pretty. Yes, she armored or the earpiece would have went poof.
She adjusted her ‘fall’ to hit a lake at night. Reports to the local command said a meteor hit the lake and water was boiling.
Orders were to stay away; they would send someone.
Linda was found in the morning, sitting on the lake edge, the tip of a huge sword setting in the water and steaming. She was just staring.
Twelve men and an officer, all green skinned, formed a half circle around her.
The officer kept screaming at her and strutting and Linda didn’t move, just sort of stared ahead.
He walked up and tried to take the sword. When it didn’t move he screamed at her again and grabbed it with both hands. She let it go and he fell, swor
d on top. It broke his leg in a couple places and an arm, and his hand was crushed. He was emitting a different type of scream. Linda had all she could do to not laugh. Half the guards tried to lift the sword off the guy; it didn’t budge. Almost as if absent minded, Linda stood up, bent and picked up the sword then stood there. They were trying to help the officer and watch her and figure out what to do.
Linda’s sword wasn’t that heavy but she could will it to be so heavy it could sink to the center of the planet. If she wasn’t around it simply refused to be moved by anything.
A staff car of some type pulled up. There was discussion and the busted up officer was put back in the truck he came in.
Three more senior officers came to Linda. They didn’t try to take the sword. One talked to her calmly and she looked at him with a blank stare. He calmly patted her hand. He didn’t drop dead or anything. He took her left hand, the right was holding her sword and tried to move her to the car, she let them try a few times then walked with them to the car and got in. An officer that came in the car was ordered to go back with the truck to make room for her. He sat in the back and kept talking to her calmly as he touched parts of her body. He got a look that he discerned as trouble when he had run his hand lightly over one of her breasts. He stopped all touching.
She wound up at a medium sized two-story brick headquarters building. She was led downstairs and into a cell. They provided water and food on a table and the senior made a phone call.
Yes they found the object. No, it appeared to be human, alive, and female. Blond, blue eyes, bronze skin and built like something or other Linda figured was sexually complimentary—she was almost naked and she had a big sword. They tried and he told what happened. He was told to use a wrecker to disarm her. Ensure she was safe, not having some bomb, and transport her when ready. Had someone tried to rape her? No, no one tried to rape her he assured them.
He called some people and about five minutes later a truck could be heard outside. Linda sub’d, “This will be cute.”
The officer led her up the stairs and outside. He had her stand near the truck. They ran a winch cable and wrapped it around her sword and he asked her to drop it. She resisted but he smiled and she smiled and let it go with a crash to the ground. The winch truck started reeling in and the driver managed to get it stopped with its front wheels about eight feet in the air. The sword didn’t budge. He panicked and slapped the clutch release and it crashed down onto its front wheels. Clearly some damage had been done to its suspension. He tried to unhook it a couple times. Linda finally saw his problem and figured if they didn’t want the sword she’d take it back and picked it up.
Blood Sabers Page 34
