Starship Paradiso (Helltroopers Book 3)

by Isaac Stone

  “Now what’s wrong?” he asked Viktor. This was the first time he’d heard the alarm scream this way. It was a series of sirens followed by a modulated pulsing.

  “I believe we are under attack,” Viktor announced. “It is the only reason the alarm would go off in this fashion.”

  “Attack?” Ash asked him. “From who? There are hardly any humans out this far!” The control room began to fill with the other members of Team Omega who’d heard the alarm.

  “I didn’t say they were human,” Viktor replied. “Pardon me; I need to attend to our immediate survival.” The floating head vanished.

  “Any clue as to what this is about?” Costa asked him. He and Jack looked around at the panels, which were changing colors by the second.

  “Viktor claims we’re under attack by something that isn’t human,” Ash explained. “So long as the spin is maintained in the middle, we’ll be fine. Be ready to grab something if the interior quits rotating.”

  “Should we armor up?” Kris asked. “If the hull is compromised, we could decompress in seconds.”

  “Not a whole lot we can do about a space battle in a ship we don’t control, but yeah suit up,” Ash explained. “I hated leaving the Thelema behind on Mercury because at least we had some control over it.”

  “Let’s see if this screen shows what is taking place on the outside,” Barbara Ann suggested. “I can control its position and size, so it might be of some help. She made a few adjustments to it. The screen moved up into the air while the image portrayed turned into an exterior view of the Paradiso.

  The battle was in progress. What they could see on the screen appeared to be a collection of smaller attack ships that tried to swarm around the starship. Ash counted at least twelve of them, but there could be more. He watched as they gathered into small units of three and swooped down on the hull of the larger ship. The Paradiso didn’t have the ability to maneuver as they did, but it had a weapons array mounted in the middle that could destroy any one of the invaders.

  “First contact with extraterrestrials and it has to be this way,” Theo commented. He shook his head as he watched the screen.

  “I can’t figure out why they choose now to invade,” Kris observed. “They must have some kind of jump drive if they traveled this far to reach us. The nearest star is what, four light years away? Where the hell did they come from?”

  “Sirius,” Barbara Ann informed her. “The dog star. They were taken in by the Enochian beings a long time ago and this is the result.”

  “I thought you said they wanted our system cleansed so they didn’t have to deal with our types,” Costa interjected. “Are you telling me there are other systems out there with intelligent life that has to endure this too? And what makes humanity so special?”

  “Whoever said humanity was special?” Barbara Ann responded. She leaned back in the chair and watched the battle commence on the screen.

  “The only reason you think humanity is special is that you can’t imagine anything outside of it,” she told them. “Your civilization is not that old. Yes, other systems have undergone the same problems you face and they’ve had to make the same decisions. This system is unique in that only one planet can support life. At least it has one planet where life survives. Overall, most systems don’t have any planets where life can survive. Those that do often have two or more planets where it evolves. Makes for an interesting competition later.”

  She stopped to watch as one of the attack ships swooped low to the camera. They were able to get a good look at it. The ship was rounded on one end and had a tail behind it that was made of some kind of glittery metal. They could not see a propulsion system. Ash tried to follow the battle and see if there was a mother ship the smaller ones arrived. Or did they all show up at the same time? He couldn’t tell.

  The only thing he noted was an obvious lack of weapons on the exterior of the ships. They all seemed to be variations on the same design. He saw the tails of heat from behind one of them and wondered if they used chemical propulsion. If this was the case, they must have very effective fuel tanks because none of them was visible either.

  “I think I just saw one of those ships blasted by ours,” Theo mentioned. “It went in for a low run and an EMP pulse hit it. Hard to tell what got it because you can’t see any trail from the weapons. It just went to pieces and vanished.”

  “Couldn’t be an EMP blast,” Barbara Ann pointed out. “You wouldn’t see it fall apart. The attack ship would’ve been vaporized.” She reached across on the table and made an adjustment to the screen.

  “I’d like to see what the score is right now,” she explained. “There is a way to do this if you know how to make the change.” She tapped on the table a few more times.

  The screen changed to show a statistic and score over the battle in progress. From what he could make out, Ash counted twenty attack ships at the start and something called a “carrier”. He decided the carrier had to be the mother ship that brought the attack ships over from the Dog Star. All of the attack ships were of the same class, but the screen had a way to differentiate them from each other. From what he could tell, there were 20 attack ships at the start, now they were down to 12. While he watched, the Paradiso score a direct hit and the number dropped to 11.

  For the starship, the screen kept track of any type of damage to it. Damages were calculated by integrity, capacity and life statistics. From what Ash could tell, the ship was holding out with little effort. He watched the stats change, but they didn’t dip much and the numbers would jump back up most of the time. This had to be from the repairs made by the cybernetic systems that wandered around the ship and made repairs. The Paradiso was built to take multiple hits. The battle was a test of the construction of the ship.

  “Doesn’t appear the attacking swarm is doing very well,” Jack pointed out as she watched the number of ships drop even more. “At his rate they’ll have to pull out or at least call off the attack.”

  As he spoke, they watched two of the attack ships collide with each other. This resulted in a large display of metal and parts scattered across the horizon. Ash wondered what the philosophy of battle was. He couldn’t deduce it. It lacked any source of logic he could understand.

  Finally, the number of attack ships went to zero as the last one was taken out by a pulse from the EMP cannon. There was a silence as everything stopped. Ash was curious what the starship would do about the alien carrier, which brought the attack ships over.

  The screen zoomed in on it and they saw a larger ship that had plenty of room in it for the smaller ones. No more emerged from it and the ship seemed to be in a holding pattern. Then it began to shimmer until it faded away. In a few seconds, the carrier was gone from the screen. The statistics at the bottom changed to show the attackers gone and the Paradiso in the process of making repairs. The battle was now over.

  “That didn’t accomplish much,” Costa pointed out. “They lost every attack ship and the Paradiso hardly took any damage. Seems like a waste of time to me.”

  “They had a game plan,” Barbara Ann pointed out. “The dog star ships wanted to find out how good the defenses were of this starship. They found out the hard way, but they did get the information they wanted. The Paradiso gained because it knows the defensive systems on the ship can be used against a target that shoots back.”

  “Are you saying this battle had nothing to do with our attempts to take out the beacons?” Kris asked her. “I thought they were on the corporate side.”

  “They were fighting on their own side,” Barbara Ann replied. “The Sirians were concerned the Paradiso would be sent against them some day. Now they understand what to do if it ever happens.”

  10

  The battle was over but war continued.

  “Ash,” Barbara Ann said to him, “I need to have a word or two with you in private.”

  “Of course,” he replied. He turned back to his crew. “This won’t be long.” They walked down a corridor in search of
an unoccupied room and ended up inside his quarters.

  “I hope this doesn’t become a regular thing,” Jack snipped as they walked away. “He’s hard enough to approach when she’s not around. Now he’ll be almost impossible.”

  Ash gestured for her to seat herself on a chair in his place. He did the same across from her. “So what is so important this time?” he asked her. “We’re close to destroying the final beacon and then onto the gate. You have some news about another invasion? The last one wasn’t too impressive.” He crossed his legs and leaned back.

  “I want you, Ash,” Barbara Ann said. Still barefoot, she stood up and slipped her leggings off, then started to remove her corset.

  “This is a little bit crazy,” he told her. “You’re in a new body and I expect you might want to try it out, but really….”

  “Did I give you the details of my background, Ash?” she said as the corset unsnapped in the front and her small breasts wiggled free. “My people came from one of the distant stars. Much further away than those Sirian ships came to attack the Paradiso. We were here before your pyramids were built.” She dropped the corset on the floor and let him take her form in to get a full effect.

  “I thought you were some kind of disembodied spirit,” Ash replied as she placed both hands on either side of her thong and slipped it off. “Now you tell me you’re not? Just what are you that you can move around into these bodies? You said you were some kind of natural force.” She dropped the thong in the chair after she bent back up.

  “We’re more than human,” she told him. “We know how to control the basic forces of the universe. You don’t do that by fighting against them or letting through the beings who want to kill you. It’s where the corporation went wrong. They are stupid to think it’s possible to ride the dragon and not be eaten alive. The dragon has many heads and all of them will devour the fool who tries to ride it. I can ride it because of who I am. It took me thousands of years to reach this level. You don’t get there overnight or by making a fast deal with a demon. Now get your clothes off, Ash.”

  “You still haven’t told me what this is about.” Not that he minded having her naked form in front of him. He preferred her small and full one, but this taller, thinner version wasn’t hard on his eyes.

  Barbara Ann walked up to him, leaned down and began to unzip his flight suit. “I need a counterpart to make this work,” she explained. “Just as I am the embodiment of Babalon, I need a male half. You proved yourself worthy in that room. I need someone special for this to work and you are that man.” She pulled back his shirt and encountered no resistance.

  “So you want to work your magic on me,” he told her as she stroked his chest. Barbara Ann knew instinctively where to touch him to get a reaction.

  “It’s not magic, Ash,” she explained. “It’s invocation. I need you to become my Horus, my counterpart, my champion, my eternal lover. It’s how the universe, at least this one, functions and we’re just a small aspect of it.” She reached lower and undid his belt.

  Ash was removed from his state of excitement when he looked up to see the black-coated form of Simon Haddo starring down at them. He held a book in one hand, but had no smile on his face. Ash was too involved with Barbara Ann to speculate how the man entered the room with such silence.

  “Simon will perform the ceremony,” she explained as his zipper was pulled down. “My, you are ready, aren’t you? I’ll work with you and keep this thing busy.” She cupped her hand around his manhood and smiled at him.

  A few minutes later, Ash was entirely naked and Barbara Ann was on top of him. He stayed in the chair, but it wasn’t too tall for her. She was able to mount him and control her movements with her feet on the floor. Ash missed the ample breasts of her previous form, but her limbs where much longer and she could wrap her arms around him. Barbara Ann kept him inside her, but maintained the exact amount of pressure on him to keep him hard without the need to climax.

  As she rode him and nibbled his ear, Ash heard Haddo read from the book he held. It wasn’t English, but it only took him a few minutes to realize Haddo spoke in the same language as the strange letters they’d found in his wake. This was supposed to be the primordial language, the same one used by the angels. He began to ride the waves of pleasure she rode him in sequence with the words Haddo chanted behind them.

  “Ash,” Barbara Ann said to him in his ear, “I knew the moment I tasted you in that room you were the right choice. It was one of the reasons I let Haddo bring me back into this form.”

  Ash felt her engulf his body with her own flesh. He sat there and rested his hands on the chair to allow her to take him insider her. Barbara Ann/Babalon placed her mouth on his and their breathing began to merge on one breath. He felt her air move into his lungs as he exhaled and pushed his into her. They breathed tighter, the air moving through her nose and out to her mouth, through his mouth and into his lungs. He breathed back out and felt the used air transfer from his body into hers and back out again. The air moved through them as she felt her taunt flesh cover him. Ash became one with his lover.

  His mind moved back to a distant time where he stood next to a large monument. A group of farmers from the shore did their best to get it up into position and he stood next to a man who held a set of plans in his hands. This was to be a very complicated task that required many men to cooperate what they did with skill and precision. The man next to him spent the entire day and worked out the figures needed to get the monument up.

  “It will work, my lord,” he told Ash. “This will show the glory of your father for all generations. The gods will be pleased and will shower you with gifts. You and your father’s name will be known for the ages. But the damn farmers have to do what I tell them or they can go back and wait for the fucking river to flood next season!”

  He placed his staff down and a servant picked it up. In the distance, his wife watched what he did and smiled back at him. She was a beautiful woman, with her long curled hair and dark features. His head itched under the double crown he wore, but it was important for the people to know that their god king watched out for them and would protect the lands. The only reason they came out to help in this task was to show him honor.

  Well, that and the pay they would get. It was the dry season and the harvest was all done. Until the river flooded again and brought in the top soil for the crops, there wasn’t much for them to do. If this public works program was successful, he could repeat it many times over. His planner, the man with the scroll, had all matter of ideas he wanted to talk about today. But the first thing they needed to do was get this monument into place. It did neither of them any good to speculate about the capacities of the farmers if they couldn’t do this one small task.

  Babalon looked at him and got the reaction she wanted. It was good to know her husband still had feelings for her after all these years. He could have his choice of any woman in the kingdom, but he went home to his queen every night.

  Ash shifted in and out of the scenes. In one minute, he felt he was someone else, and then he was back inside the Paradiso with Barbara Ann riding him. She released her mouth from his and looked down at him from her angle.

  As he felt her tighten on him, it hit Ash what this android body was built to accomplish. This one was grown to be a high-end sex bot. Barbara Ann/ Babalon was returned to this universe in the body of a sex goddess. Now he understood why they were particular about the one chosen for her reincorporation. She’d picked the body that would be the most useful for her mission.

  “Not yet, lover,” she told him. “I can’t allow you to finish until we’ve completely merged. Once we do that, we’ll be able to become one being whenever we need to do so. We’re separate now, but we get closer every time I push myself down on you. Just stay still, we are getting close.”

  Babalon/ Barbara Ann looked across the sands and watched Horus with the architect. He claimed to have a way to put those farmers to some use every year. They were good people who only wanted
to care for their families and lived in fear of another famine. They looked to the king and queen to keep the god of death away. Lately, there’d been many foreign gods showing up and the farmers wondered if they had a better arrangement with their worshippers. This couldn’t happen if they were to survive. Her people took a bunch of scattered settlements on the river and turned it into a mighty civilization.

  Now the seasons were changed to favor something new. Or would they? It was up to her they stay in touch with the fundamental building blocks of this reality. She knew it could all collapse if they didn’t tend this flock carefully. Already there were rumors of armies in distant lands who took an interest on what they’d built on the riverbanks. She had to keep this line going or they would see everything fail.

  She reached down and touched her swollen belly. This one was close. She felt he might be ready in another month. It was to be their fourth child. There were still two more to come. She knew how many were needed to keep a stable dynasty and how many would be lost to disease. There were some things no one could control and sickness was one of them. Her ancestors knew how to keep sickness away, but they’d lost the knowledge generations ago. In time, they would get it back.

  She held it inside her as hard as her body would allow. Ash was frozen and felt himself tighten. There was only so much he could do right now.

  Haddo was preoccupied with his working. The damn book was supposed to give him the answers, but it posed more questions every time he used it. Even the seer stone didn’t tell him much. All it did was get him into trouble. He had to keep the chant up even if its effects were negligible. It did something that was for sure. It kept the two in front of him in sequence. Christ, Barbara Ann and Ash were almost picture perfect studies in how intercourse should work. No video he’d ever witnessed before made the act look so beautiful. Their bodies where in excellent physical shape and she had all the control. Wasn’t this the way the universe worked, he once read. The universe in harmony and the female aspect rode the male one and made him do all the work. But, wait a minute, wasn’t she supposed to face the other way for maximum effect. Damn if he could remember.