Naero's Valor

by Mason Elliott

  The brief times that she and Khai spent with their kids became more and more precious to them as parents. They loved all of their kids beyond life itself, but they still had their favorites. With Naero, it was Shetharra, of course.

  But looking down at sweet little Selly as she slept, Naero could understand why Khai secretly made Selly his favorite, among all the rest.

  Naero suddenly wondered how many children she and Khai would have. They already had twin girls on the way with Sharrah carrying them for the time being.

  Kids were a small cottage industry with her and her husband now. They had talked about perhaps having two or maybe three more. Then they’d stop, and focus as best as they could on each of the kids as they grew.

  Their biggest fear was the war and of course the Great Adversary.

  Their children remained high value enemy targets.

  Protection was paramount.

  At times both she and Khai worried that their galaxy might not ever be a safe place for the children. Yet had it ever been so for either of them while they were growing up? Or the generations before them?

  7

  Om decided to split off his existence into two parts, in the end. His Prime existence would remain with Naero as her inner partner and counterpart.

  Another version of myself will take a permanent synthetic form, who will be called Ommo, and join with or ‘marry’ a similar construct that will still be permanently linked with Alala, the sentient shipmind of The Dark Star.

  The AI couple still had not decided whether they would have offspring.

  With the war, such a decision might be put off for quite a while.

  The actual wedding itself was a small affair, with less than a dozen friends and well-wishers. AIs were not much for ceremony, as it turned out. The pair took forms that looked more or less like Spacers, and they dressed in Spacer fashion.

  Naero gladly officiated and conducted the brief Spacer wedding ceremony.

  Husband and wife would have a standard honeymoon of one standard week.

  Ty and Z gave them suggestions as to what romantic locales they might wish to visit. Baeven and Jia also gave them advice.

  Only a few fully realized that a new form of sentient construct life had evolved.

  Ommo would naturally serve with Captain Tyber and Zhen, so that he could be close to Alala and her permanent construct–also calling herself Alala. They were now both an actual couple, and a valued, accepted Champion team within the GSA, much like many of them and their spouses and partners.

  Next, Naero went off to spend some time with her Uncle Baeven and the crew of The Shadow Fox. With the search for the Oden at a temporary dead end, Khai told her that that was all right. He went back to check on their kids for a bit while the allies continued to search and gather further information on several fronts.

  All of that could take some time.

  The GSA battle lines were currently stable. The enemy had withdrawn on many fronts, as they sometimes did.

  But that also usually meant that when they did go back on the attack once more, the enemy would be even more powerful and dangerous.

  Naero and all of her many compatriots needed to remain vigilant and continue to prepare for the worst.

  But there was no denying that when Naero and her uncle worked together on Mystical and Cosmic matters, they progressed in ways that they could never imagine.

  It seemed as if it had been years since Naero had had time to train and explore their many Cosmic abilities with her outcast uncle.

  After all, they were the only two existing Cosmic Guardians.

  Together they could do many things they could not accomplish on their own, and train in certain ways that even Khai could not match. None of their powers and abilities were exactly the same.

  Naero rendezvoused with Baeven and company on the outskirts of the Beta Quadrant, right where the Allied exploration efforts were just ramping up.

  Naero’s fleets remained close at hand if they were needed.

  Baeven’s unique ship, The Shadow Fox remained an advanced Drian stealth vessel, the only ancient vessel of its kind known to survive.

  Everyone naturally accepted that it always seemed much larger within that its compact exterior suggested.

  That was just one of its many odd features and unusual capabilities.

  Even Baeven and the ship’s AI counterpart, Jia, did not comprehend them all.

  They rejoiced to have Naero with them, and made her quarters ready for her as they always did.

  Baeven’s small crew of amazing misfits all loved Naero as much as he did, and that was saying a great deal. To them, it was as if she was their own offspring; all of them had watched her grow and mature into adulthood, strength, and her power of command within the Alliance with great pride.

  She was their family, abani, and they were like a second family to her, as strange as they all were. Any of them would give their lives for the others without a moment’s hesitation.

  Now that High Prince Gaviok of the mighty Shai mantids was off, serving as a Mystic High Master for the Alliance, he had sent one of his most powerful granddaughters, Hippolynna, a champion princess of the Shai to take his place among Baeven’s crew.

  She was a tall, slender mantess, slightly taller than Naero. Hippolynna was usually a green to greenish white hue. All Shai were sensitive to the Cosmic Wisdom forces and their energies: red Chaos, blue Order, and golden Change. Mantid carapaces changed color according to mood, and the Cosmic energies they channeled.

  Among the mantids, Hippolynna was considered to be exceptionally beautiful.

  Naero had known her as a promising Shai youngling since she had hatched, and trained with the mighty Gaviok and his son, Prince Ra. There was great affection among them all. Few races could love as deeply, and intensely, and without limit as the Shai. They were the greatest and most noble of all the insectoid races that Naero had ever known.

  In fact, in matters of both personal honor as well as battle prowess, the Shai were a race without peer, the very paragons.

  Naero herself had shapechanged into the fitting form of a golden Shai Princess on several occasions, in order to learn what their existence was truly like.

  To be a Shai was an astonishing experience.

  Only being among the gentle Tua was more rewarding.

  In her Shai form, Naero had been given the name Naerolielleth, in honor of her becoming one of them—actually existing as a Shai.

  In memory of this, Hippolynna often called her Liella in her Shai form, and Naero almost always referred to her as Poly.

  Poly was unique in many ways among the Shai. She was, for example, the first and only Shai to fully master two of the Cosmic wisdoms: Order and Change.

  And like Naero, she was a shape-changer, another first among her species.

  When she transformed into a human, and then a Spacer, she also used the name Poly. Many mistakenly thought her to be an Oden, like Khai’s people, because of her green hair, eyes, and skin, and her glowing green Cosmic energies.

  Many thought that she was quite the dish in her Spacer form.

  Those close to her stopped trying to explain the complexities of it all to the many, so they simply told casual acquaintances that she was Khai’s distant cousin, Poly. That ruse saved a great deal of time.

  Once, while staying with Naero, a handsome Spacer Fleet Captain from Clan Donovan even tried to court Poly–thinking that she was just another Oden-Spacer offspring–Khai’s cousin.

  Unfortunately, he grew so enamored of Poly that Admiral Naero eventually had to take the smitten young fellow aside to explain things for real, and let the poor guy down easy. Of course the fellow was sworn to secrecy on the matter.

  Poly was actually all for mating with him, in her innocence and curiosity.

  Naero did not think that the universe was ready yet for their inter-species love, or any weird offspring that might possibly result.

  Besides, Shai husbands had to get lost for a few month
s after full consummation–which usually took up a whole standard year on its own.

  Shai were legendary for their amorous stamina and endurance.

  Then there was also that issue of strong female Shai instincts to eat the heads of their husbands after their first year of constant mating. Such powerful drives were still very strong in all Shai females. Fortunately, those instinctive drives went away thereafter, fading forever in so many weeks.

  For everyone’s sake, even the slightest chance of that sort of thing was best to be avoided. Real heads did not need to be lost for any reason that could be avoided.

  Dashing Fleet Captain Donovan most likely enjoyed his head where it happened to be.

  If Poly accidently transformed back into her true Shai form in their wedding bed in a moment of passion, that might also come as a bit of a shock to the poor smitten fellow.

  Thankfully, Naero dissuaded her Shai sister from fulfilling her curiosity about mating with Spacers.

  Once they had some time alone, however, Naero did ask Poly to catch her up on what was going on in the lives of Baeven and company.

  There was lots of big news.

  “Baeven and Jia are also seriously discussing whether they should have children or not. Jia even offered to make them completely Spacers, and not Driathans.”

  Naero grinned. “I’ve heard some inklings about all of that.”

  Poly cocked her head in that way that only a Shai mantid could. “Baeven isn’t hung up on that so much, but he is of the mind that perhaps they should wait to see how the Great War turns out, just to make sure that the universe is still going to be there for their children.

  “Jia laughed and assured him that they would eventually win, and that it would be. Baeven still wasn’t so sure.”

  Naero clapped her hands. “Polly, I heard that Jia pointed out that Tyber and Zhentisa were having more of their kids, even though Zhen is now a Driathan. In fact, it seems to Jia as if everyone but her and Baeven are in the baby business these days. That is true.”

  “I know, N. Baeven only said that he would continue to consider it.”

  “Tell me about S’krin next. How’s she doing?”

  “Well, S’krin is still actively being hounded by her own people, the Amavar. In fact, with some help from us, she even had to fight off and slay five separate assassin teams sent after her to either return her to her people against her will—or kill her outright. We did not let them accomplish either goal.”

  To the mind of the Amavar people, those were S’krin’s only two options. Either she had to agree to become the next advanced breeder for her people, for the rest of her life, or she must die.

  Like most free people, S’krin rejected both options.

  Naero had a unique idea for a solution, but she had to discuss it with S’krin in detail.

  There was no easy resolution without cost to such a complex problem.

  S’krin carried within her the secret genetics of the next evolutionary leap for her species.

  But she was dead set against simply becoming just such a ‘breeder’ of multiple billions for the rest of her life. That was exactly why she ran away with Baeven and company in the first place, and not solely for the adventure aspect.

  Although that was all part of the fun and allure for S’krin the space adventurer as well.

  But the same sad situation with her own people continued to cause her great vexation and mental anguish.

  Not to mention the constant threats to her freedom, free will, and her physical existence. She knew that her people would never forget.

  They spoke together shortly thereafter in private for a few hours together.

  The Amavar princess grew even more torn and distraught than before. “So let me get this straight, N,” she said. “First, you want to make a replicant of me–like a twin, right?”

  Naero nodded from across the table they sat at in S’krin’s intriguing quarters, with all of its nano Amavar furniture pweaked specifically for that insectoid race. “Your replicant will be your genetic twin, in every way. And unlike you, we can imbue her with the active desire to become the mother of the next generation of your species, thus fulfilling that obligation to your kind. She will yearn to do it.”

  “Go on, N.”

  “But there’s still a catch.”

  She smirked. “There always seems to be one. Let me guess. My new sister will become fanatical about killing me. She will even lead our people into war in order to do so, if necessary.”

  Naero blinked and pulled back slightly. “How did you know?”

  “I am an Amavar princess, after all. Those intense drives and instincts are hard-wired into our genetics and our minds. No princess or queen of the same generation would ever allow a rival to exist. I would also feel the same strong pull to act in such a way, and resolve the matter through combat to the death. Yet if I killed her, then I would be right back in the same idiotic position that I am now. And if she killed me…then I’d be dead. I don’t like either of those outcomes.”

  “Nor would your friends. But hear me out. I can also adjust your genetics, ever so slightly, but all of the related effects would be permanent, I afraid.”

  “Hmm…my people know each other by our genetics and through our distinct pheromones. If you change mine, even slightly, I will become a stranger to my family and my people. They will no longer know me as the person that I am. I will become someone else that they do not recognize. In fact, they will think that my new sister is the real me.”

  Naero waited.

  “Only you can make this choice, S’krin.”

  S’krin thought hard for several long moments, and then sighed. “I choose my own freedom then,” she stated. “The same choice I made long ago. My life is and will always be here with Baeven, Jia, and my chosen family on this odd little vessel. I will never go back to my people to live among them in any case. Let us proceed with both procedures, Naero. Despite the sundering, my people will have what they want, and I will have what I already have and want, without so much turmoil and distress.”

  Both processes took less than a standard day to implement. S’krin would indeed continue on with the adventuring life that she had chosen.

  And for all the Amavar would know, their princess had experienced a change of heart finally, and returned home to embrace her queenly duties.

  The original S’krin could never really go home now.

  She was perfectly fine with that.

  Last but not least, Naero caught up with her favorite furry Ku.

  Crazy-pants Danjen always remained a hoot and a half.

  Naero learned from Poly that that goofy Ku, with his nutso acting career now had fame and wealth that allowed him to marry.

  One hundred and forty-three times, and counting.

  Danjen had managed to marry a hundred and forty-three fuzzy nutty Ku ladies, most of them even bat-shit crazier than he was, and that was saying something.

  As a result, over half of his wives wanted to divorce him for a slice of his cash holdings, twenty-seven had challenged him to Ku death matches in public, and most of the rest wanted various things from having his furry babies to starting vid careers of their own under his name.

  Some of them even wanted to be Ku porn stars with him, but he claimed that, as an artist, he was now past all of that sort of thing.

  In any case, his big batch of wifeys were constantly searching for and hounding him to no end for almost every possible reason in the black.

  Going off and risking his life with the Baeven and the Alliance in the Great War was now like a pleasant vacation by comparison to him.

  He welcomed the escape.

  As far as his vid career, he claimed to be semi-retired. But his whacked out Ku accountants warned that he’d better make some more of his crazy pics very soon, if he did not want his bank accounts to rapidly nose dive into the red.

  Danjen was being financially drained each day by his wives and his own extravagances.

  But how co
uld he go make more movies while he was needed at the war?

  That was a problem.

  But no matter how much he begged her, Naero refused to make him a replicant of his own.

  Two Danjen lunatics scurrying about, mucking everything up twice as fast?

  No way.

  No way in hell.

  Naero and Poly spent many happy days training and sparring while exploring some of the fringe planets of the virtually unknown Beta Quadrant. They also did so in order to give Baeven and Jia some long deserved alone time together.

  If any sentients ever wished to understand what love meant, they only needed to watch Baeven and Jia together for several short minutes.

  Baeven said the same thing about Naero and Khai, when they were free to be together as they wished.

  Poly and Naero went forth fearlessly, sparring with each other and confronting any of the dangerous xenomorphs on the many unexplored worlds they visited.

  Om made sure that the spyfixer cloud that routinely followed Naero performed a preliminary survey of those worlds at the same time, and put them in the rotation for eventual fixer mapping and initial exploration.

  Naero even took the time to quicken Poly’s shape-changing talents. They switched back and forth from their Spacer and Shai forms, as well as dabbling in the new creatures that they encountered, just for grins.

  Then Om reported an anomaly.

  They detected an ongoing interstellar war between two clearly advanced interstellar races, the near-human Zenek and the centaur-like Chath.

  Each species controlled a couple dozen worlds, some of which were up for grabs in their contested, colonial areas.

  Their fleet and weapon tek was slightly behind current Alliance standards, but they were still very lethal and formidable to one another.

  Naero immediately checked if there was any evidence of enemy activity among the two species.

  It was standard procedure for the Great Adversary to pit sentient species against each other, often without their knowledge of what was going on, until it was too late for both species.

  That way both species could be weakened for conquest and subjugation.

  Yet in this case, it appeared that the enemy was not yet involved in this conflict in any way.