Realms Of The Gods

by C. M. Kane

  Just one long corridor to the next lift, she thought. It hadn’t been busy when she had come along it with Darva, she could only hope nothing had changed in the meantime.

  She came out of the lift and, after a quick glance around, put her head down and started walking swiftly to the next vertical lift. She pretended to be engrossed in what she was reading, while she desperately tried to ignore the fact that her head felt ready to burst open like a late blooming flower. She went over the rest of her plan in an effort to distract herself from the pain as she forced herself to continue on.

  All too quickly she heard two women talking in the distance behind her, taking a steadying breath she fought hard against the instant desire to take off running. Instead she kept her pace, half expecting to hear a shout, or feel a zap gun burst on her back at any moment. When she finally arrived at the next lift it was empty, she slipped in and closed the door, praying fervently for just a little more luck.

  The Kydomois was so badly damaged that anyone alive and mobile was probably assisting with repairs, she knew it was the only reason her plan had worked so far. All she needed now was to get to a jumper while they were all busy elsewhere.

  Once the turbo lift came to a stop she opened the doors, ready for anything. To her relief the hangar was almost empty, she immediately angled off to the side and snuck behind some crates and a badly damaged jumper. It took her a moment to realize the badly damaged jumper was the Shalia.

  Nice landing, Tae, she laughed to herself as she looked at the destroyed undercarriage.

  Ahead of her was the jumper she had noticed earlier when she had looked around. There were very few people around so she took a chance and ran for it, jumping in before anyone noticed. Not bothering with a pre-flight check she touched the com-screen and started it, while punching in the numbers she had prepared earlier.

  That’s when all hell broke loose. Darva came out of the hangar’s command centre to see why the hangar doors were opening. Her jumper became airborne at the same time and, after a moment’s confusion, he turned to look directly at it. His initial surprise was quickly replaced by shock, then anger as he started yelling and dashed back into the command centre.

  Tae didn’t wait to find out what or who he was yelling to, she headed to the open airlock bay doors as quickly as possible, before punching in another series of numbers so they closed behind her; but not before she started taking some serious zap gun fire from inside the hangar. As the outer door opened she checked the sensors, the zap gun fire hadn’t penetrated the crafts shielding, the jumper was still in perfect condition. So far, so good.

  As soon as she was clear of the Kydomois, she immediately jammed her thumb down on the acceleration control of the small jumper and headed in a beeline for the spinning asteroid. Once she was as close as she dared get she moved around it, giving the massive battle cruiser no line of sight to take a direct shot at her, even if the pulse cannons came back online again. Of course they could still use missiles, but with all the debris they could accidently hit in the Nebula, and with enemies waiting for them outside of it, she doubted they’d waste them on her – well she hoped they wouldn’t anyway. When she finally reached a safe distance Tae sat back, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

  ‘Why in all the seven hells do people keep trying to kill me?’ she asked aloud. Ares really is a giant douche, she thought bitterly.

  His cutting words to her still stung, he’d made her feel like an errant child. None of this would have even been necessary if he had just been reasonable. Now her stomach churned and her head felt like it was ready to explode in a giant wet mess at any time. And it was all his fault, none of this had to happen.

  No matter how much she did for these ungrateful bastards she always came out worse for wear. Just before she got out of communications range, and still fuming, she thought she really should give Ares a little something to remember her by, for what he had done to her, but what?

  When in doubt reach for what I enjoy most, she thought.

  She laughed, she knew she was being immature and childish, but right now she didn’t care, she’d had enough of the Gods and their followers. If they wanted to treat her like a petulant child then she’d damn well act like one. She was just surprised at how good it felt.

  She pressed the com-panel again and opened up communications.

  ‘Hi there, Kydomois this is Tae Rames, I just wanted to assure you that the information I passed on was true, but that due to the extreme unpleasantness of your resident god, who as it turns out, is King of the Buttroaches, I’ve had to leave a bit abruptly. But before I go I just wanted to give Ares a little present, to thank him personally for all the kindness and consideration he has shown to me during my brief visit with you.’

  She uploaded the song she had chosen directly to the Kydomois’ communications system from her com-watch, then she headed straight into the heart of the nebula, just as an old Earth song, ‘Hit Me with Your Best Shot’, started to play for the bemused communication techs aboard the Kydomois.

  Chapter 20

  Brohan left the Olympus immediately after the meeting with Loki. He and Valaria had already decided she would bring Trevor back with her, she would also order Soola’s deployment as soon as she was ready; not only for Tae, but because Trevor and Soola were people knew they could count on and trust. Besides, as Valaria had pointed out, Trevor could give her some insight into who would be more reliable out of the trainee warriors she would be inspecting, rather than going into the selection process blind. Most of all, they both thought that Trevor and Soola deserved a break; they were intelligent, reliable and honest, as well as being loyal, but sometimes in life those types of people could be overlooked.

  Brohan smiled, his and Valaria’s new positions were paying dividends already, because they now got to choose their own staff. He still couldn’t quite grasp the enormity of what had happened to him. He was in the prime of his life once more, all because he had taken a chance and believed in a remarkable young woman. How could he ever repay her? He owed Tae so much. He had his youth and a career once more, a career at a vastly higher level than when he had retired and, more importantly, he had Valaria. The woman intoxicated him; never had he dreamed he could feel this way about anyone, and in such a short time. All his new found happiness and contentment led straight back to Tae.

  The WLE Headquarters came into view as the jumper decelerated. He could tell something was wrong as soon as he cleared the outer wall. He landed the jumper in what looked like the tail end of a small war. Several wounded warriors lay on the ground in an area near the jumper hangars, all of them being treated by med techs. Further inside the hangar lay more wounded and dead. He drew his weapon as a large, pale pink wolven warrior, sprinted over to him. He remembered what he had heard about Tae’s trick of switching the Drav cleanser with the Cadmium Red staining chemical in the WLE’s shower system. The warrior looked like he must have been one of Tae’s victims judging by his color; he continued to scan the area for threats as the pink warrior approached him.

  ‘Commander Brohan, we received orders that you were coming. Please come with me, sir, Commander Shivon is waiting for you.’

  Brohan looked around him. ‘What in Hades’ name happened here?’

  The wolven warrior grimaced. ‘We had a small uprising, sir. We put an end to it quickly, but not before we suffered some casualties of our own.’

  ‘Small?’ Brohan asked. He ignored the gesturing wolven and walked straight into the hangar, forcing the warrior to follow him.

  A large blonde vampire was leaning against the wall, watching closely as two med techs worked on another badly wounded warrior just inside the hangar doors. Brohan was walking over to question him just as the vampire turned towards him. It was then he noticed the large patch of fresh blood on his shirt and the extreme pallor of his skin.

  ‘You’re injured?’

  ‘What was your first clue?’ Replied the vampire through gritted teeth.

  ‘Lieutenan
t Tark, that’s enough,’ the wolven ordered.

  Brohan held up his hand to silence him. ‘What happened here?’

  Tark gestured over at the five dead thalien. ‘They requested the use of a jumper, we declined their request.’ He grinned through his obvious pain.

  Brohan rolled up a sleeve, walked up to him, then held up his arm.

  ‘Drink,’ he said.

  Tark stared at him in confusion.

  ‘You need to drink to heal,’ Brohan said in a perfunctory manner. ‘The sooner you heal the sooner I know this jumper bay is protected again. Now, drink.’

  Tark’s fangs dropped as he lifted Brohan’s arm slowly to his mouth, all the while staring at him.

  ‘I haven’t got all day, Lieutenant Tark. Are you going to drink or do I have to knock you out and pour the blood down your throat?’

  Tark immediately bit down, his face slackening in pleasure as the rich blood entered his mouth. He drank several mouthfuls then withdrew his teeth with obvious reluctance. He let go of Brohan’s arm after rubbing his own blood on the puncture marks to heal them. The wolven officer stood silently to the side watching them. Tark looked at Brohan through narrowed eyes.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said carefully.

  ‘How long will it be until you’re fully healed?’ Brohan asked, rolling his sleeve back down.

  Tark closed his eyes as his color slowly began to return. ‘Probably another couple of minutes until I’m able to fight effectively again, it’ll be another couple of hours or so until I’m back to full fitness, if I get some more blood.’

  Brohan nodded and turned to the wolven. ‘You had better grab another couple of warriors to help the lieutenant out.’

  ‘But the commander…’

  ‘Will wait. Now go,’ Brohan said. The warrior ran out the back of the hangar to comply with his new orders. Tark watched curiously as Brohan walked over and inspected the dead thalien, going through each of their pockets and studying the contents.

  ‘How many?’ he asked over his shoulder. Tark walked unsteadily over to him.

  ‘Initially about one hundred and thirty,’ he said. ‘These are deserters that panicked after the initial fighting.’ He laughed harshly. ‘They would have had us too, if it weren’t for Mara and his men.’

  ‘Mara?’

  ‘A thalien Sergeant,’ Tark replied curtly, ‘he and thirty of his men held them off the command centre until reinforcements arrived. He lost two good warriors, and half a dozen, including him, were injured. Commander Shivon has seen fit to throw him and the rest of the injured in the cells next to the traitors. The fool’s decided that every thalien is a traitor, including those who saved his ungrateful arse.’ He spat.

  Two vampire warriors and the wolven arrived back in the hangar just as Tark finished his story. Brohan stood and gave the dead thalien one last look, then turned to the two vampires.

  ‘My name is Commander Brohan,’ he said. ‘I just arrived to make a report on this facility for Lord Loki who has now assumed full command of the WLE.’

  The vampires looked at each other then back to Brohan. ‘Lord Loki is alive?’

  Brohan nodded. ‘Yes, he was rescued by Tae Rames, one of the recent entrants to the Island. He is at this moment back onboard the Olympus. Commander Shivon has received a full briefing. Lord Loki has sent me on ahead of him while he attends to other more pressing matters. I’m to find out exactly what’s been going on here in his absence.’

  He glanced over at the dead thalien again in deep thought, then looked from one of the new arrivals to the other. ‘You two are now in charge of the hangar, no-one leaves this facility without my express permission, understood?’

  The vampires snapped to attention. ‘Yes, sir.’ They drew their zap guns and ran to take position at each entrance while the med techs loaded one of the wounded warriors onto a portable carrier to transport him to the base’s infirmary.

  Brohan turned to Tark who had stiffened in anger at his hangar being taken from his control. ‘I’m requisitioning you for myself; you’re now my personal assistant while I am on base. I will expect a full and honest accounting of every damn person here, is that understood?’

  Tark raised his lip. ‘Honest accounting, are you sure?’ He sneered. ‘You might not like what I have to say.’

  Brohan continued to stare at him. ‘You will address me as Commander, Lieutenant, and as long as it’s honest I couldn’t give a rat’s arse what you say. This,’ he gestured to the dead warriors, a hint of anger showing in his voice, ‘is going to need a swift reply, and I intend to send it. That means punishing those who were responsible, not making scapegoats out of good men.’

  Tark came to attention. ‘Be prepared then, Commander, because Commander Shivon won’t let go without a fight.’

  Brohan nodded. ‘Warning taken.’ He smiled grimly.

  ‘Now grab a weapon and get your arse into gear, it’s time I met your Commander.’

  ‘Oh goody,’ Tark muttered dryly.

  He bent down and picked up a zap gun and knife then pulled his bloody shirt away from his chest to check on its healing.

  Brohan turned back to the wolven attendant who still waited.

  ‘Lead on,’ he said.

  They turned and walked briskly out the hangar’s door and headed directly toward the central command building across a huge open square; just as the last of the sun’s rays sunk behind the mountains. Huge batteries of lights clicked on around the command centre, throwing into stark relief the copious amount of blood on the ground. The fight for the command centre had obviously been intense and brutal. The popup defense barriers that Mara’s warriors would have sheltered behind were now back down, but Brohan could still see where they had fought, and the price they had paid.

  They entered the building and took a lift to the fourth floor coming out in the communications room. The war room, for want of a better term, was situated off to the side. Brohan walked over to it with Tark at his heals, the wolven trying to catch up so he could announce their arrival. Brohan saw Shivon the moment he entered, there weren’t that many pale pink elven so he was hard to miss.

  ‘Commander Brohan is here, sir,’ the wolven said as he entered the room just ahead of him.

  Shivon turned. ‘That will be all, you can go help with the clean up.’

  ‘Yes sir.’ The wolven saluted then quickly left the room.

  ‘Commander Brohan,’ Shivon saluted, ‘we have received the momentous news from the Olympus and are now in the process of informing all the WLE warriors. We are honored to have you with us as Lord Loki’s representative. I am only sorry that you have caught us at such a disadvantage.’

  Brohan returned the salute. ‘Commander Shivon, can you offer an explanation as to what has occurred here?’

  Shivon stepped around his desk. ‘We had a small uprising directly attributed to the thalien warriors. No other races were involved. My men have the situation well under control, and I have the traitors locked up in the cells waiting to be questioned. There’s nothing for you to concern yourself over, Commander, I assure you.’

  Tark snarled low as Brohan continued. ‘Commander, I have been informed that you have locked up the very men who saved your facility, is this correct?’ He watched as Shivon turned a deeper shade of pink.

  ‘I have no-one bar thalien locked up, Commander Brohan. As I am the commander of this facility, as you have so rightly pointed out, it is well within my rights to do anything and everything to protect my command. If that includes throwing wouldbe traitors in with known traitors, then so be it.’

  ‘I will see these men, now.’ Brohan’s tone brooked no argument. Shivon stared at him a moment as if considering whether or not he could refuse the request.

  ‘Very well, Commander.’ He looked over at Tark in surprise, as if seeing him for the first time. ‘What are you doing in here?’

  Tark leant against the desk, deliberately putting his bloody hand on its highly polished wood. ‘I’ve been promoted to Command
er Brohan’s personal assistant while he’s here.’ He smiled.

  Shivon made a strangled noise when he saw where Tark had put his bloody hand. ‘Well make yourself useful for once and show the commander to the cells,’ he said.

  Tark gave a lazy salute. ‘Yes, Commander Shivon. Of course, Commander Shivon. Immediately, Commander Shivon.’

  Shivon turned an even deeper shade of red knowing he was being openly mocked, but technically not being able to point out exactly how, because he knew Tark would simply deny it, making him, Shivon, out to be paranoid.

  Go!’ he said, barely checking his temper.

  Tark smiled. ‘This way please, Commander Brohan,’ he said in a polite, efficient voice.

  Brohan laughed softly as Shivon stiffened even more. ‘I gather you don’t like the commander?’ Brohan asked as Tark led him out of the building and over to a smaller one located closer to the outer wall.

  ‘Permission to speak freely sir?’

  At Brohans curt nod he continued.

  ‘He’s an idiot. He promotes those who curry his favor, and bullies the prisoners. I wouldn’t call him a coward though, not from what I know of his history. He is also an unparalleled tracker, one of the best I’ve ever seen actually; that’s how he got the top job in the first place. He simply has no leadership skills whatsoever, and he knows it. I very much doubt he had any idea something like this could even happen.’

  He looked over at Brohan as they walked. ‘With Shivon there is no subtlety, everything is black and white; he simply fails to see that life is full of shades.’

  Brohan frowned realizing he had much to think about as he entered the cell block with the lieutenant. They proceeded past several guarded checkpoints on their way to the cells, once there Tark led him straight to Mara and his men.