Return of The Red Devil

by Shannon Abrams

  One fateful day he ran into a cute little white kitty hybrid geo-engineer, Carmen Velasquez, quite by accident while on assignment, and his life changed forever. But that little bit is left to another story.

  Sometimes Circe pressed Tom into service as her co-pilot.

  “Pine Tree Leader, all groups, check in.” Circe announced to the radio net.

  Each fighter, bomber/drop ship group checked in by radio as ready for action.

  “Pine Tree Leader, I will hold everyone in reserve in the asteroids to mask your presence. I'll go in slowly for a closer look at the bogey so you all can cover me. If they open fire on me I'll jump 10 klicks along my vertical axis. That will be my signal for you to all leap up into a ring formation around the bandit and light them up. We don't know what they've got yet, so after you open fire, run for it and regroup. Don't let them have the luxury of drawing a bead on you or you're a goner. Ok now, let's creep in and see who we're dealing with.”

  Circe waited for all the acknowledgements to come in on her comm display and then she nodded to Tom to advance on the target.

  Aboard The Dragon Lady:

  “Twice in one day! Mr. Easton, we really are going to have to do something about that assassin's guild!” Kyp mused aloud, “Engineering damage report. --Engineering respond.”

  Mal nodded in agreement, “Yes, Ma'am”

  “Internal unit communications are down in areas, Captain, although some intercoms are still operational.” Minerva reported.

  “Mr. Easton, if you could get down to engineering, please?” Kyp chirped.

  “Aye Aye, captain.”

  “Damage report, Minerva?”

  “Port gravitic pylon has sheered off. All other external damage remains the same as previously reported. No hull breaches detected. There was a power surge disabling most electronic components on board after stabilizing the ship.”

  “Confirmed Captain, all my navigational sensors are out,” Sparky reported.

  “Helm control is also non responsive captain,” Fang reported.

  “Then life support is--?”

  “--Is currently running on chemical air scrubbers only, electrical power from the APU.”

  The comm panel chirped and Mal's reassuring voice came through the small speaker, “Engineering to bridge.”

  “Bridge here, how bad is it, Mr. Easton?”

  “As bad as everyone reports captain. Cleco's assistant is working on the life support but without the other gravitic nacelle we will need more space to decelerate.”

  “Understood. We'll do what we can from up here.” Kyp closed the channel and glimpsed Fang approaching her.

  “What is it Fang?

  “I need to give you information that could have bearing on our future survival.” Fang replied.

  Kyp nodded toward Spark, “Mr. Sparky, can you keep everything under control for a few minutes?”

  “Sure thing Skipper, I think I can get the navigational sensors and astrogator up and running in a bit with Minerva's help.”

  “Good to hear. Keep up the good work you two,” Kyp said as she stepped into the corridor with Fang.

  As soon as the pressure doors closed Kyp grilled Fang in hushed tones, “Alright Fang, what is going on? I don't think I have ever seen you this unnerved, unless you are still shaken by our recent difficulties.”

  Fang Silverclaw appeared as another red panda but he had a few silver streaks in his fur, however, there was much more to him than met the eye. He represented a much older race of dragons that once inhabited the Earth long before the arrival of the race called Humanity. He was the leader of the Silverclaw clan of Fire dragons and more by accident than design. Due to Kyp's actions during the pirate campaigns, he was able to wrest control of the Dragon council. Being a shape shifter he did not use his true form, which was larger than a full size cargo module, but sized his physical self down in order to fit in this much smaller ship. The red panda form, being more compact, was much better adapted to this environment.

  “Well, despite the voyage being somewhat unsatisfactory thus far, Amaranthine, there is something familiar about this system.

  I am feeling some kind of strong power disturbances in the ether here and it is of a kind that is very, very old. If we are noticed by it, I will give you this warning and advice. Amaranthine: tread carefully, your usual glibness may not serve you well in this encounter,” Fang shuddered.

  Kyp had not seen Fang this rattled before and something that would unnerve a dragon could not bode well for the ship or crew.

  She mused, “If the disturbance proves hostile, would you be able to open an interdimensional portal, large enough for the ship to effect an escape?”

  “I think so, but I hope it will not be needed, for I would require a very long recovery time for me, if that were to happen.”

  “Understood and agreed. We shall keep it open as an option as well as a smaller version for crew evacuation only. Do whatever you need to prepare for it.”

  Fang nodded in agreement, “I shall make ready, Amaranthine!”

  True to form Cleco was able to rig the the ship to begin its deceleration without disintegrating. Sparky was able to get the navigational sensors working but the astrogator was another matter altogether as its main circuits were fried from the entry into mobian space.

  Mal took the lone watch on the bridge and allowed the crew to rest and was settling into the command chair with an Irish coffee. He was looking forward to a boring stretch of sub-optimal deceleration. Just as he took the first sip of his drink the proximity alarm sounded.

  “Bogey, Captain! Incoming on an intercept course, bearing two niner zero off the nose, low, 50k kilometers decelerating at 500kps squared,” Minerva stated.

  Never a dull moment on this ship! Malcolm mused, as he triggered the general quarters alarm.

  After a minute or so Kyp, Fang and Sparky entered the bridge and took their stations.

  “What is it, Mr. Easton?”

  “Bogey incoming, captain. Unknown origin and configuration. It's on an intercept course with us. Do you have orders, Captain?”

  Kyp narrowed her eyes, at the current deceleration rate the ships would be in spitting distance of each other in all of a minute, plenty of time to inflict considerable damage.

  “Just hold her steady, Number one. Make ready the guns but keep them concealed, we don't want to rattle a potential first contact. Have Cleco's assistant make preparations to repel boarders or get more crew to see to that.”

  “Mr. Sparky, How are the sensors, and communication arrays?”

  “The sensors are mostly running, all of sensor communications are operational.”

  “At least something still works,” Kyp said “Run a standard scan, Sparky, and open our standard hailing frequencies.”

  “Channels open, Skipper.”

  “This is Captain Epsilon of the freighter, Dragon Lady. We have sustained heavy damage and request assistance. Please respond.”

  “Transmitted Skipper.”

  Fang spoke up, “Perhaps, Madam, it may be someone that just wants to have a look at us. Then again a full raiding party may be concealed elsewhere and be waiting to jump on us!”

  Fang chewed on his lower lip nervously, “Well, ah --then again...uhm...This is most disturbing --yes.”

  “What is it Fang? Spit it out!” Kyp snapped.

  “The source of the strong ether disturbance is approaching us. It seems to be onboard the bogey. So I believe it is the disturbance I sensed from great distance and that indeed it has noticed us! --Wait. There are two distinct sources now, this one and there is a second that waits at some distance perhaps to observe. I fear there is a hidden reserve force lying in wait, Madam. I cannot tell if there is malice involved or they are just being very cautious, though. Oh dear...Oh dear...Oh dear...”

  Kyp chuffed and looked inscrutable. Fang is not very easily perturbed...unless it is very significant.

  “Well then what about this 'disturbance'? Can you relate it to
anything you already know?”

  “No Madam. Except that it is off the scale in strength measurements, as best as I can tell. This is an individual that is more powerful than anything ever-recorded in our draconian archives...I think...ah...uhm --and let us remember that there are TWO of them.”

  “On a scale of one to ten, this would be like 15?”

  “More like one thousand plus, Madam. --We must exercise extreme caution. I fear they can manipulate reality-time-space as if it were cerama-cast. I do not even think I could open a portal without this creature just slamming it shut it in our faces. We cannot run, we cannot we fight. --so we must hope to parlay, Madam, as that is our only option!”

  “Thank you, Fang, for your feedback,” Kyp groused.

  “Well, I suppose it's going to be a long night.

  --Mr. Easton. paint them with an active scan. A single ping. That will let them know that we have noticed them.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Aboard Terran Flagship, The Sword of Bastet:

  “We're being scanned, Tom.” Circe remarked.

  “Ok, I was wondering when they would try to have a look at us.”

  “I'll try a simple radio hail and see what they say.”

  Aboard The Dragon Lady:

  “Captain, they are hailing us on the shortwave frequencies but the universal translator can't make any sense of it.”

  “Ok, send standard reply, Mr. Easton,” Kyp turned to Fang, “New but scary civilization perhaps, Fang?”

  “Perhaps so Madam!” Fang continued to bristle.

  Aboard The Sword of Bastet:

  “They sent a reply but its just so much hash to us, Tom. Continue on a slow drift in and I'll try to get a closer look at them.”

  “Ok, good luck with that”, Tom replied.

  Circe closed her eyes and thought to herself, What I need now is eyesight better than the best telescopes.

  Then she was able to visually scan this intruder to the solar system. The ship was good sized but did not flaunt a lot of gun installations like a warship. She was too smooth in her lines, angular at some points like a freighter but many spots along her fuselage looked to have cosmetic fairings installed to cover up certain ugly spots. Weapons points perhaps?

  Her name, 'Dragon Lady' looked to be in old English, pre-Obliteration period script, could have been any one of several meanings though.

  Circe looked into the interior of the ship then with her mind. There were no signs of an insectoid crew but instead they were all mammalian. But there was one other creature, with a somewhat blurry phantom like presence as if the true creature was much larger than its mere physical stature.

  “Well, well, well....Tom, we have some lost hybrids here. This is someone's transport converted into a yacht.

  No --wait. It looks like a yacht, but its got substantial armament! More like a light cruiser. Be careful!

  They are all hybrids, how they got out here I have no idea, and one other that does not stay in focus. How odd...”

  Aboard The Dragon Lady:

  “Well, now what? Do we blink flashing lights at them? Play stupid musical notes over the radio?”

  Kyp began her inquiry but then let out a shrill scream, as firey darts of pain burst through into her skull, “Gaaaaah! Get out of my head!! Aaaaaah!! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!!!”

  Fang closed his eyes and was feeling the pain too.

  Malcolm also collapsed from the psychic blast.

  The pain vanished after a second and a smooth soothing feminine voice filled their heads,

  [Greetings travelers! My sincerest apologies for any discomfort! We were expecting enemies when we tracked your arrival into our system so I am dreadfully sorry for causing you such pain with my initial contact! We were unable to communicate any other way initially.

  Now that I know who you are, I can introduce myself. I am Circe Smith.

  Welcome to our System. Sol is our central star and primary planet is Earth, --or perhaps I should say, welcome back!]

  [Arg!...I hate telepaths! Cant we talk some other way?] Kyp snarled back mentally.

  [Noted. I see now that you can speak Galactic Universal! May we converse verbally via radio or in person?]

  [Yes, please come aboard and we will talk!]

  [Thank you, I'd also like my sister to be in on these talks if you don't mind?]

  [Yeah, sure. Why not.]

  [Very good. Her arrival may be very rapid from what you may be used to so, please, do not be alarmed.]

  [Understood.]

  Aboard The Sword of Bastet:

  “Ok, Tom. They aren't hostile. They're just broken down, lost, and they would like to talk to us in person! The captain is actually a descendant from Old Earth, the rest of the crew are descendants of passengers of an ark ship launched just before the Great Obliteration! Oh yes. This should be interesting! The captain's travelling advisor is a dragon!” Circe reported, glad they weren't hostiles.

  “A dragon? But I thought--.”

  “Yes, Tom. I did too. He is over five thousand Terran years old, so we should think he commands a healthy dose of respect!”

  “Wow.”

  “Well then, bring us up along side their ship and we'll find a docking hatch.”

  “Ok, you got it!”, Tom sent out the 'stand down but remain ready', radio signal to the attack group, “Shall we send the marines home this time?”

  “Yes, by all means. I don't think there is anything here I can't handle. I'd like Diane to be in on this too, if she can jump up here.”

  The entire task force let out a sigh of relief.

  Return of the Red Devil

  Chapter Five: War Stories:

  Aboard The Dragon Lady:

  Mr. Easton picked himself up off the floor and scanned the panel, “Captain! Long range scan is picking up a very fast mover on intercept course!!”

  “Uh, excuse me, Madam. The second disturbance is also moving in very fast.”

  “Oh yes, her sister wants to visit with us too! They said she would be coming in fast so not to be alarmed,” Kyp grumbled, “Why not see if the whole family wants to come to visit!??”

  “Madam...if I may advise?”

  “Yes Fang?”

  Fang looked perplexed, “As I may have mentioned, these individuals, are uhm, somehow in possession of unfathomable power. I use the term 'unfathomable' from the viewpoint of my dragon's race. From our practical point of view they may as well be Goddesses! They can destroy us all with a single, mere thought. Perhaps even turn me into one of those creatures you call a Cocker Spaniel.

  We should extend the branch of the olive and do utmost to further good will, if at all possible!

  As one of your ancient philosophers once said, 'They have the drop on us, Tex'.

  So let us do nothing that might anger them, in hope that we can escape with our lives, Madam!”

  Kyp scowled then nodded, a bit rattled from Fang's insight and looked at her dragon friend,

  “Noted. Ok, I'll try to not piss them off. We just want to get fixed and get outta here.”

  “Ok, Mr. Easton. I suppose we should prepare for guests...”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” Mr. Easton replied.

  The two Mules moved in closer to have a good look at Dragon Lady. From the bridge Kyp could see the lettering and nose art on each one. “Fer-de-Lance and Sword of Bastet” if I make out the script right, Captain. They are definitely carrying the livery of warships so they were not lying about expecting trouble from us.

  Then Fang caught sight of their insignia, with lapine skull & cross bones, “Oh dear...They speak the truth about where we are now, these ships are carrying the similar markings of eighteenth century Earth pirates, Ma'am!”

  “Great Fang. Keep trying to cheer me up...” Kyp sighed, “We're screwed aren't we...”

  “I fear it may be so, Ma'am. We have no choice. --This experience may be unsatisfactory...most unsatisfactory indeed!”

  The Mules were finally able to negotiate
safe docking with the Dragon Lady, and the occupants opened the hatches and let themselves in.

  The two large figures poked their heads out of the lock and into the interior of Dragon Lady.

  They were an imposing pair standing at nearly seven tall and all dressed in black with lapine skull and cross bones on left breast, belt buckle with an engraved Rutherford atom, alchemy chaos symbol on right lapel, black knee high boots, single purple bands on each upper arm of the uniform, sam browne black leather shoulder belt from right shoulder down to left beltline and white pinstripe-trim. On their upper thighs they carried two formidable side arms. Both wore very dark wrap around sun glasses.