Return of The Red Devil

by Shannon Abrams

  We will also share our new exotic technologies with you. We will not only repair your ship but improve it as well. If you loan us some destroyers we will improve them too,” Circe chirped, squaring off her eyes and narrowing them appreciably.

  “You can provide decent fighter escorts for our destroyers?”

  “Yes! We have the best fighter squadron in this sector. We have propulsion technology that is centuries ahead of anything around. You probably noticed Diane's approach earlier.”

  “Mmm. Yes, it was most impressive,” Fang spoke up.

  “I see you are from Gleise 667Cc that is 22 light years from here. How long will it take you to return home?”

  “Uhm, ah, about 8 months give or take a couple weeks, your , --Ah, Ma'am?”

  “How would you like to make that jump in forty five seconds?”

  There was Dead silence as the crew of Dragon Lady gaped.

  “I thought so.” Circe chirped while Diane smiled.

  “And with our sub space radio tech, you can phone home just as quickly!”

  “Oh my, uhm...yes...That would be satisfactory...Most Satisfactory!” Fang stumbled over the words.

  “No, it would not!” Kyp exclaimed, “I am still Captain of this boat and as duchess of my star federation, I will not go in for this!”

  “But why not, Captain? They do not lie to us!” Fang replied.

  “Simple. A human long before my age once said: 'Typically, in order for any oligarchy effectively to rise and rule, it needs some *extreme peril*, something to cure, some desperate need that the rulers promise to fulfill.

  Is this not 'the ideal opportunity for enslavement?' and 'If tyranny and oppression come to us it will be in the form of fighting a foreign enemy!'

  Then there is ‘The most pernicious form of tyranny disguises itself as a benefactor to its victims!'”

  “Perhaps, Fang, they simply believe their own lies! You said they were powerful psi-talents! How do you know they are not clouding our own minds?” Kyp was adamant.

  Diane shrugged.

  Circe coughed, “Very well then, Captain. But as fellow spacers we can not allow you to drift out here helplessly.

  As a show of honor and good faith, let us take you in tow to our repair facility.

  Once there we will repair your ship's engines as promised. Improved propulsion will be installed if you wish and you may still take our radio and NITE technology with you.

  Then you can go on your merry way. No strings attached.

  If you are ever in dire need though, call us. We will come. Fair enough?”

  Kyp glared, “No! I will not make use of your assistance or your...technology! We will make our repairs here and be leaving this system soon enough. We have taken care of this kind of problem before.”

  Fang was looking very perplexed, torn between his fascination for new knowledge dangled under his nose like a big carrot and the loyalty to Kyp, his travelling companion.

  Mal's com unit chirped and he was listening for a minute during this discussion then he tapped Kyp on the shoulder and leaning in whispered something in her ear.

  Kyp flashed an expression of angry surprise and nodded a response to Mal, then quickly became sullen.

  “Well...SHIT!” she spat.

  Diane and Circe, just sat and let their ears droop, looking resigned.

  Circe guessed what the first officer was telling Kyp and broke the lull in the stalled talks, “My offer still stands, if and when you may choose to have a change of heart, Captain.”

  Kyp flattened her ears and looked even more sullen, “I must concede. My first officer tells me that our situation is indeed much more dire than first expected. I apologize for my rash outburst. I accept your generous offer in order to protect my ship and crew from certain jeopardy.”

  Circe looked relieved, “Apology accepted, Captain!

  If I may direct my drivers to your towing points we can get you to a safe ship yard.

  I hope you'll accept our hospitality as well. You are our first interstellar visitor and a welcome surprise, considering who we were expecting!”

  Kyp nodded, resigned, “Thank you....Ma'am...”

  Circe smiled, “Just call me Circe. I chafe under formal titles anyway. I look forward to working with you and I do think you'll like what we can do for your boat, Dragon Lady.”

  Circe tapped her communicator and spoke, “Tom, I need some towing equipment out here to pull in this corvette. Maybe three mules?”

  Radio response came back, “You got it. I'll call that in right away!”

  “A few more boats will be pulling up shortly to tow you in to the repair facility.” Circe chirred.

  Kyp and Mal nodded in acknowledgement.

  Circe ventured a soft mind touch with Fang, [Honorable Sir, Could you please talk with Captain Epsilon so to smooth over her ruffled fur? I really would like to know that we have a friend and ally in your star system. ]

  [Most assuredly, ah, Madam. Thank you for your patience!

  Her Grace is a hardened warrior and a brilliant tactician. I would sail into any battle with her in command without hesitation!

  It's just that right now she feels beaten by circumstances. She does not like to feel threatened or to lose! I think that in time she will calm down and learn to trust you, Sol types, enough to form a strong alliance, but she has always held authoritative types in disdain. So, we shall, uhm, ah, proceed in small steps, if we may? ]

  [Yes, thank you, kind Honorable Sir! I hope we may both benefit from the experience! ] was Circe's mental reply.

  Mr. Easton had his attention drawn to his earpiece again, “Captain, three bogies, fast movers, incoming.”

  “Thank you, Number One,” Kyp chirred in response

  “Ah, good. Just Little Friends, Captain. Our towing tractors have arrived, perhaps you might like to watch from the bridge?” Circe suggested.

  “Ah, why yes! That would be most fascinating!” Fang chimed in.

  “Yeah, sure. Let's go”, Kyp shrugged and led the way out into the corredor and they all padded back up to the bridge.

  As they all looked out the forward windows it seemed that a small constellation of stars had broken away from their fixed brethren. These were coming in very fast.

  And in an instant their presence grew to full size in front of Dragon Lady as they flashed into a perfectly matched vector at a comfortable stand off distance from 'Lady's nose.

  Not only were there the three expected Mules but each one was escorted by three wicked looking fighters.

  Kyp, Mal and Fang all gasped in unison. The Kyp turned to the two dark suited visitors.

  “Goddammit! You scared the shit outta all of us! Was this really necessary?!!” Kyp snarled.

  Circe, shrugged, “I am in the same ship as you, Captain. If they were to collide with us, my sister and I would have been involved in the mess too.”

  Mr. Easton spoke up, “I am only painting three radar returns. The other nine are not showing up at all!”

  “Those are the Scorpion class fighters, Mr. Easton. They are equipped with stealth, ECM and EM cloaking capability,” Diane explained.

  “Would you all care to have a closer look at one?”

  “Oh, yes Ma'am, very much so!” Mal blurted out.

  Return of the Red Devil

  Chapter Six: The Tow Truck Arrives:

  Aboard The Dragon Lady:

  “Certainly,” Diane flicked her comlink on, “Blue Leader, front and center please?”

  “Aye aye, Commander,” came the radio reply.

  One of the fighters moved slowly out of formation and advanced towards the nose of Dragon Lady and stopped.

  “Can you do a nice ninety degree pitch down and slow pirouette for us?”

  “Coming right up, ma'am!”

  Fang, Kyp and Mal gaped at the spectacle in dead silence, fur standing on end.

  The thing was all harsh angular lines with stubby wings. The fuselage bulged in a few spots, most likely to contain int
ernal stores. Most of the outer surface was a nightmare of weaponry, bristling with launch rails, loaded external weapons racks and any left over space facing forward was taken up with short tubes that could only be large caliber gun mounts. It stood on its nose for them and then slow rolled so they could see it from all sides. Then it slowly returned to its proper place in the formation.

  Fang broke the silence first, “Oh my, oh my...that's one very formidable machine, Madam! Yet it looks familiar somehow...can't quite place it.”

  “Perhaps you read something in the old Zarinthian chronicles, Mr. Silverclaw?” Circe baited him.

  “Oh! Yes, but my, my...that's...impossible! Those texts date back to over five million years before the Great Obliteration! Our ancestors were just tree dwellers then...”

  Circe added, “We 'found' some detailed information on them and added on a few improvements.”

  Fang was getting all agitated now, “But a lot of the Zarinthian knowledge is too dangerous to be released into this current state of the time line!! It could be disastrous!”

  “Yes, Mr, Silverclaw. Your dragon klans have been keeping it out of circulation and the Zarinthians have entrusted me with it. I will be keeping it under tight control for a while but some of it we will be needing for the present.”

  “But! But! It's way..too...”

  “--Too dangerous? Perhaps most people would not be able to wield it without destroying themselves. My sister and I don't have that problem.”

  “But how? How do you control it?”

  “We have our ways,” Circe smirked, “Besides, we are going to need everything we can muster going for us when the invasion starts.”

  “Alright then, Miss Smith,” Kyp began again with a visibly hostile edge, “What if I refused your assistance? Would you have left us here?”

  Circe narrowed her eyes again, “Things would have become a bit less pleasant. I would have had to immobilize you and your crew, haul your ship in anyway and repair it. Then launch you on your merry way. Once you were a safe distance away you would have been released from your immobility and be free to go. Fair enough?”

  Kyp looked incredulous, “I don't believe you! You're bluffing!”

  “Indeed, am I?” Circe replied with an icy chill in her voice and replaced the dark shades over her eyes.

  Diane looked nervous after hearing the firm tone in Circe's voice and seeing her put her dark glasses back on.

  Diane advanced a step and extended her arms, palms down, making slow patting motions, “Wait! Wait! Let's all just stay calm! Neither my sister or I are looking for trouble.

  But, your Grace, we can use your help if you'll let us just explain what we have to offer. Fair enough?”

  Kyp bristled at being addressed formally, but held her tongue.

  “CC? Do all first contacts go like this?” Diane chirped in inquiry.

  “Oh no, dear sister, in fact, this bunch is positively flippant! Usually they try to gun you down in the first thirty seconds!

  So far we're actually making very good progress!” Circe raised an eyebrow then sighed in frustration and turned her attention back to Kyp right in front of her.

  Kyp sighed and looked every bit of her real age, “Actually, Madam, the ships I mentioned, do not belong to me. They are the property of His Majesty's Stellar Navy based in the New Kingdom of Ronkonkoma. I sometimes may be appointed to Captain a squadron of several destroyers, now and then, but they are not mine to loan --as you know, I am also currently in exile.”

  “Yes. I got the gist of that earlier. So you pissed off His Royal Graciousness did you?”

  “Yes. His Majesty was not amused over that thing about a little insurrection I led once.”

  Circe nodded, “I see. So who should I talk to about these destroyers?”

  “Well....you would probably have to talk to the Royal Secretary of Interstellar Defense. However...I do not think they will still want to loan you anything once they find out WHY you want those ships.”

  The com link in Circe's ear comm buzzed, “Hey Skipper, Red One here. We're all hooked up to this yacht, ready to tow it to the dock?”

  Circe tapped her com, “Excuse me, Captain. Stand by Red One, while I pass the word to the Captain.”

  “Roger that, Skipper.”

  “Well Captain, we are ready to get under way to the repair dock, if that's all right with you?”

  “So like, I could say 'no'?” Kyp sighed. “--Ok, fine. Ma'am. Lets be on our way.”

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  “Ok, Red One. Take us in to the main ship yard,” Circe replied to the radio.

  “Aye, Skipper, here we go” came the answer from Red One.

  They all sulked in silence for a moment then Circe asked, “So then, from your neighborhood, who would be willing to sell, loan, lease me a few serviceable destroyers?”

  Fang spoke up, “Well, ah, uhm...Hmm...Come to think of it there might be one way you could pick up some warships like that, but they may be very expensive.”

  “Very expensive, as in how much, Mr. Silverclaw? Is there a hard currency among your systems?”

  “Ah. Hmmm...I should think two or three pallets of gold bullion per ship would be a fair price,” Fang pondered out loud.

  “Not too unreasonable,” Circe answered, “Half now and half on delivery?”

  “Ah? You can lay hands on such a sum?”, Fang inquired, tilting his head quizzically.

  “Certainly, yes.”

  “Oh, ah...steal it I suppose?”

  “No, no need to. Remember, I can transmute whatever elements I need, gold is just one of them, as you know,” Circe mused, “Shall I make you some right now to help pay for fuel and repairs later on?”

  Kyp and Mal listened to all this and fumed.

  “If you have a few small ingots of any kind of cheap metal, that will work.”

  Fang tapped his communicator, “Hello, repair parts?” Fang delivered a short description of what he needed in the local language, and closed connection.

  A minute later a canine technician entered with a cart carrying a dozen copper ingots.

  “Will this copper be satisfactory?”, Fang chirped quizzically.

  Circe turned to Diane, “Of course, Diane could you take half?”

  “I got it, CC!”

  So the pair divided up the bars and laid them in even rows on the table. Then Circe and Diane raised both paw hands over the bars, palms down. Each one of their claw tips then flashed with a minute blue white star that each radiated several tendrils of light down that spread over the surfaces of the bars causing them to glow with their own bluish light. A moment later the tendrils vanished and blue glows subsided leaving a dozen perfectly formed gold ingots sized and stamped!

  “There you are, Mr. Silverclaw, 100 percent pure, top to bottom, stem to stern. Check them out”, Circe beamed.

  “I bet they are just gold plated!!” Kyp chimed in with a good dose of vitriol.

  Circe angled her gaze at Kyp with defiance, calling the implied bluff with a smile, “Pick one or take them all. Test them for density and x-ray spectrography, whatever.”

  “Take one, Snarf,” Kyp snipped back, “run a full lab analysis.”

  The tech nodded and picked up one at random and padded back out of the room.

  “Do you really think I would try to defraud you at this point, Captain?”

  “Yes. --I do not like you, nor do I trust you.” Kyp snapped back.

  Fang's communicator buzzed and he spoke to it a moment.

  “Oh, MY GOODNESS! This is most extraordinary indeed!” Fang exclaimed.

  Diane tilted her head, “Problem there, Mr. Silverclaw?”

  Fang blustered on, “The machinist's mate said that it was the purest gold he had ever seen and the sides were all polished to be optically flat to within a maximum error of plus or minus one fifth of a wavelength of light! Even underneath where it sat on the table! This cannot be possible! Total elemental transmutation, insitu!!”

 
; Circe and Diane looked at each other in smug fashion and just nodded.

  Diane smirked, “I bet you'd like to get out of your chair now, wouldn't you?”

  Kyp and Mal noticed they were glued to their seats. They were angry but had calmed down a good bit.