Rebirth (Game of the Gods Book 1)

by L. Fergus

  How come I didn’t think of that? “Hawke, I…” Kita looked around for him. “Where’d he go?”

  “With the other Angels, Captain. We sent them with a two-man escort as well,” the gunboat ensign informed her.

  “The Princess and I are going to go find them. We’ll take two for an escort.”

  The ensign nodded and waved two Diamock soldiers to follow them.

  They entered the cargo bay and met the other group coming back. Hawke carried Lacy. Behind him, Defiance cried into Valor’s arms.

  “How long has she been dead?” said Kita.

  “A couple of hours. Case said she sent her sister a message that she’d become an Angel. I don’t know how Auggy found out about it, but I’m pretty sure he killed her soon afterward.”

  “Why do such a thing?” Cotton demanded.

  “We’ll probably never know,” Kita muttered. She glided around Hawke to land next to Defiance. She put her arm around the stricken Angel. Together the trio stood in silence letting Defiance cry out her pain.

  “Can you imagine a whole flock of them?” Cotton asked Hawke.

  “Must have been a colorful bunch. More than just feathers, I mean.”

  “Thirty or more women with powers like gods. No wonder they ruled a planet,” Cotton mused.

  “I don’t know about gods, but they do pack a punch. Jess is like a tank on steroids.”

  “And yet they care for each other so deeply. I wouldn’t have imagined such a scene if they were human. I wonder if it’s another change that comes with becoming an Angel.”

  “I’m pretty sure Kita’d rip time and space apart if anything happened to you,” said Hawke.

  “There is a kinship among them that even I’m not a part of, yet.”

  Hawke chuckled. “Going to lobby for a set of wings?”

  “I figured I’d be more like Snowy. An Angel without wings.”

  “Why hasn’t she done it?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m sure Kita has her reasons.”

  “Congrats by the way.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I don’t envy you, but if she makes you happy, go for it.”

  “Have you ever married?”

  “Me? No. Too busy married to the Legion. No time and no girl outside of the Legion understands anyway. Marrying inside the Legion is frowned upon. So, you settle for girlfriends and sex buddies.”

  “Do you regret it?”

  “No. I’d never make a very good husband, too damn hardheaded.”

  Cotton chuckled politely as the trio of Angels split apart.

  Defiance had stopped crying, her look of pain replaced by anger.

  “Are we ready to go?” said Cotton.

  “Yes,” said Kita. She pulled the odd piece of communications gear from her belt and showed it to the others.

  “That’s Auggy’s FTL communicator,” said Defiance.

  “By the Crushing Depths,” Kita gasped. “It’s sending something.”

  “Let’s see it,” said Valor. “It’s a standard FTL long range communicator. He’s hit the screamer function on it.”

  “What’s he sending?” Kita demanded. “And please let it be, ‘Happy Birthday to the Emperor.’ ”

  Defiance and Valor chuckled a bit. “No. It’s a set of numbers.” She gave them to Defiance.

  “These are star chart coordinates, but not on any map, I’m familiar with. They’re too far out of any quadrant. Unless…” She turned around and rushed to the bridge with everyone following. She punched them into the NavCom. The NavCom plotted them.

  “That’s the Tet!” said Cotton.

  “Oh, no,” Kita whispered. “The human fleet is on its way here.”

  “They can’t make that distance. Not with the drives they have,” said Cotton.

  “Nothing is static in human hands,” said Kita. “They’ve probably already come up with a hundred different ways of improving them.”

  “I don’t know,” said Valor. “How long has he been sending messages, Case?”

  “Since the Diamocks first found us.”

  “By the almighty Crushing Depths,” Kita gasped. “They could arrive at any moment.”

  “Can’t we just hand her over?” said Cotton.

  She received a trio of soul-crushing dirty looks from the Angels.

  “They’re not going to ask, either,” said Defiance. “If they think I’m in trouble they’re going to come to this spot with every weapon at the ready.”

  “How are they going to know where you are?”

  “By this.” Defiance held up a ring. “Its signal is good for about a hundred miles. They’ll home in on it like a swarm of angry bees. If I’m not with it, they’ll assume the worst. Then they’ll make demands and go into scorched earth mode. They’ll destroy everything in their path until they find me.”

  “We need to get back to Mauler,” said Kita. “Engineers, I need this ship put on a course that will take it out away from the Tet as fast as possible.”

  “It’ll blow, Captain.”

  “I’m counting on it. Gunboat number one will remain to guard you. Once it’s done return to Mauler.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Everyone else, back to Mauler. We don’t have a second to lose.”

  A report from Sensors came in, “Captain, contact twenty-two thousand miles and closing fast. No identifier squawker. The visible spectrum shows unknown ship type. Another has just dropped in from FTL, a third ship…four ships…five…eight…We’re counting twelve contacts of various masses and unknown origin at bearing two-seven-four above planar moving toward us at a ten degree upward slope.”

  “Sensors, Kita, can you read any identification markings on those ships? Numbers, words, anything?”

  “The range is still too great, Captain, but we can read the lettering across the bow of the largest ship, U-E-E-E-N-T-E-R-P-R-I-S-E.”

  “Enterprise!” Kita, Valor, and Defiance exclaimed together.

  “We are so, so dead,” Valor groaned.

  “She would send her favorite attack dog,” Kita snarled. “Cotton, we’ve got to get every ship in port moving to defend the Tet.”

  “Captain, Sensors. We’ve detected twelve more contacts dropping in from FTL. Moving on a matching course with the original grouping. The largest ship in that group is U-E-E-F-O-R-T-T-I-C-O-N-D-E-R-O-G-A.”

  “Fort Ticonderoga,” whispered Defiance. “This isn’t going to go well.”

  “Verisom Fleet, this is Princess Cotton currently flagged aboard the Diamock frigate Mauler. All ships are to sound general quarters and break port immediately. The Tet is under immediate attack by humans. Twenty-four enemy warships have dropped out of FTL. This is not a drill. I say again, this is not a drill. I want a picket line arcing from two-three-fve degrees to three-one-five degrees above planar oriented at five degrees downward angle. Report.” Cotton waved her hand to get the others moving.

  The group moved at a dead run. Kita called the engineering ensign. “How long until this thing blows?”

  “Twenty-one minutes, Captain.”

  “How fast are we moving?”

  The ensign checked his computer. “We’re boosting at point three. Detonation will be one hundred miles from here.”

  “Will that be out of your way?” Kita yelled at Cotton.

  Cotton had a large hologram in front of her suit showing her the battlespace. “Yes, but barely.”

  “Everyone, get out of here,” Kita ordered.

  The boarding parties rushed to the airlocks and cycled through them. Grappling lines were cast, and the gunboats boosted past redline to catch up with Mauler.

  Cotton contacted the other military and Tet-Sec heads to update them on the situation. Kita eavesdropped on the conversation. No one seemed to believe Cotton, even after she forwarded her map to Tet-Sec headquarters. As she argued, a third wave of UEE ships arrived, led by the heavy dreadnought Carolina.

  Cotton shook her head with an annoyed look. “I’ll have to work o
n them later. I’ve got forty ships in dock, but nothing greater than a missile cruiser. Verisom prefers speed to power.”

  “Humans will have both,” said Defiance. “Does anyone have any carriers? We’re going to need carriers to battle Enterprise and Fort Ticonderoga.”

  Cotton looked lost.

  “You have carriers, right?”

  Cotton shook her head. “What’s a carrier?”

  “A large ship that carries dozens, if not hundreds, of tiny attack fighters. You’re not fighting thirty-six large warships. You’re going to be fighting hundreds of fighters armed with weapons capable of blowing huge holes in larger warships. It’s a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ strategy. The bigger vessels will be supporting them with their guns, which are formidable in their own right.”

  “We’ve never fought such an enemy.”

  “Does this mean no one has anti-fighter guns?” said Hawke.

  “We fight in close and by boarding. Our main guns are used to soften up targets.”

  “Because shield strength is so strong,” said a Diamock ensign, “standard tactics is to close with an enemy ship, fire the main guns to do maximum damage. If it survives, boarding parties are sent over. That’s why Mauler carries five thousand soldiers.”

  Kita looked at Hawke, Defiance, and Valor for input.

  ‘Shields aren’t going to stop a fighter,” said Valor. “They’ll go right through and chew the larger ships to pieces.”

  “Flak weapons are all I can think of,” said Hawke.

  Kita agreed, but that wasn’t going to be enough to down hundreds of human fighters.

  “New plan,” said Kita.

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “We’ve got one advantage. Humans will want to keep us at range. If we can get in close enough to fire the main guns and board, we’ll have a chance.”

  “No matter what, the fighters are going to chew us to pieces,” said Defiance.

  “I know. We’ll have to target the carriers and knock out flight control.”

  “And those are the most heavily guarded pieces. We’re going to need more than forty ships.”

  “That’s what we got. Cotton will have to solve that problem. Hopefully, she can cause enough chaos so we can go after Enterprise.”

  “Isn’t the flag going to be on Fort Ticonderoga?”

  Kita grinned. “Admiral Sheppard has a thing for history. The name Enterprise is legendary. It goes back to wooden fighting ships on the seas of Earth. She’ll want to be on it to rescue you.”

  “How do you know it’ll be Sheppard?” said Valor.

  “Galina wouldn’t trust anyone else. Think you can manage that, love?” Kita called to Cotton.

  “I’ll try and cause as much chaos as I can.”

  “Why don’t you turn this over to the Verisom Navy?”

  “I’m the highest ranking princess in the Verisom Navy that’s available.”

  “I thought you were just a playgirl bunny,” said Defiance.

  “I’m actually the third highest ranking in the Navy and third in line of becoming Queen of Verisom. You don’t think everyone jumps for me because I’m just another run of the mill princess, do you?”

  “When were you going to tell me this?” Kita said, stunned.

  “I wanted to make sure you wanted me for just my lowly status as a princess. I was going to tell you after you accepted my necklace.”

  “So, ah, what are your chances of becoming Queen?” said Defiance.

  “Very good in my lifetime. Not any time too soon, not like you. I just didn’t want Kita to love me because she just wants to be Queen of Verisom.”

  “Oh, yes, because that’s my goal in life.” Kita chuckled, rolling her eyes.

  “I think it has become more the opposite.”

  “Are you sure you want me? I’m broke, I have no homeworld, I no longer have an embassy, and I lead a flock of six. I’m not sure what we’re doing if we live through this.”

  “I’m sure we can get work as feather dusters,” said Valor. “Or, get some skimpy clothing and stand around fanning rich, fat old men.”

  “Ew, you can do that,” said Defiance.

  “Mauler coming up, Captain,” the ensign called.

  The ship had steadily grown larger in the distance. Kita looked at her team. “Case, is it ok if we turn Lacy’s body over to the soldiers? I’m going to need you on the bridge.”

  Defiance nodded. She took her sister’s body from Hawke. She kissed her forehead and gave it to the medic. “Treat her gently,” she whispered.

  “Of course, Princess,” he said politely.

  The gunboat docked, and Kita led the charge to the bridge. Inside, Zak had everything manned and ready.

  “Captain on deck,” a sergeant called.

  “Enemy update,” said Kita.

  “Enemy ships are seventeen thousand miles and closing, Captain.”

  “Any signs of aggression?”

  “Negative, Captain.”

  “What’s our maximum range?” said Kita.

  “Five hundred and fifty miles, Captain.”

  “What’s a fighter’s range?” Kita asked the others.

  “Depends on the fighter. I believe the average is sixteen hundred to two tousand miles round trip,” said Hawke. “We’re going to get walloped before we even get close to return the favor.”

  “Gunnery,” Kita called. “What kind of exploding shells do we have?”

  “We have anti-boarding shells. Their range is twelve miles, Captain.”

  “Well, buckshot is good enough to chase off intruders,” Hawke muttered.

  “Zen,” said Kita.

  “Captain Kita?”

  Kita smirked over the Diamock’s attempt at combining her military bearing with her status as a member of Kita’s group.

  “You know the situation. Work out with Operations and Hawke the best defense against fighters.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Kita looked over at Cotton. The Verisom’s head was bouncing back and forth so fast she was afraid Cotton was going to get whiplash. She grabbed Cotton by the front of her armor.

  “Cottontail, love, reflag yourself here and use our equipment and crew. We’re not doing anything. Otherwise, you’re going to break your neck.”

  Cotton looked dazed at the interruption, but she did as Kita instructed. The entire room lit up in a holographic light show. “This is Princess Cotton, is everyone online? Report.”

  Bored by the Verisom conversation, Kita turned to Valor and Defiance. “So, any ideas on how we get to Enterprise?”

  Kita displayed the latest data for the position of the enemy ships above her hand. She played out a hypothetical scenario. They all watched and frowned. It didn’t end well for them.

  “No matter which way we go, we get swarmed. We’ll never blow a hole through the fighters,” said Defiance.

  Kita snapped her fingers. She backed the scenario back and added Dallas at a certain point. She changed the speed of the Verisom fleet. They ran it so Dallas exploded as the fighters flew past. It took out about a third of the fighters. She ran the scenario over to Cotton. The Verisom watched with interest and wiggled an ear as a sign of thanks.

  “That girl can do an impressive amount of multitasking when she wants to,” said Valor.

  “Yeah, she can.” Kita sighed as the others laughed.

  “So, we still have a lot of fighters and no way to Enterprise,” said Defiance. “Even with that hole from Dallas, we’re not fast enough to blow through it and make it to the ship.”

  For once in her life, Kita was out of ideas.

  “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” said Valor. “Remember how you broke into my station?”

  Kita nodded and shrugged.

  “You didn’t come in the door. You came in through the roof. Why don’t we do the same? Instead of plowing through this mess, we make a short FTL jump behind them. Their rear is totally exposed.”

  “We can’t make that short an FTL jump,” sa
id Defiance, “but we can make a long jump, turn around, and jump back. The only problem is the area of our return is too wide. We’ll be too far away to catch them before we’re detected.”

  “Can we do anything to tighten it up?”

  “Accuracy gets better the more times the computer runs the FTL jump. Normally, you run it about fifty times to get an error margin of a hundred miles. Running it a hundred times gives roughly eighty miles. What takes forever is crunching the numbers. It takes about a minute for a fast computer to calculate one FTL iteration. That’s why we ended up in the middle of nowhere when we left Angelica station. We hadn’t run a single iteration.”

  Valor looked at Kita slyly. “How fast can you calculate one of these iterations?”

  Kita shrugged.

  “Off to Navigation then.” The other Angels followed her dutifully.

  “Kita, where’s Hali? I need her,” Cotton yelled from across the room.

  “Medical?” Kita called.

  “Patient?”

  Kita frowned at their normal hearing skills. “Grand Ambassador Hali C’Zar Ah’tem, the Aurori that was brought in earlier with the wound in her back.”

  “She’s stable, Captain, and due to be released once we return to port.”

  “Get her up here, quick like a bunny. Princess Cotton needs her.” Her comment received giggles from the other Angels. “She’s on her way, cottontail.” Cotton waved that she’d heard.

  “Hey, soldier,” Valor said once they arrived at Navigation, “How many iterations of the FTL calculation does it take to get a ship within, say, boarding range?”

  The Diamock looked at Valor and blinked, and then saw Kita behind her. “I would say several thousand, Captain.”

  “Was that a Captain for you or for me?” Valor asked Kita with a grin. “Can you put a tighter range on it than that?”

  The soldier flipped through some screens on her display until she found a chart. “To put a ship within five miles of another ship takes Ten thousand six hundred and eighty-nine iterations.”

  “Ok. You mind if we borrow the FTL computer?”

  The Diamock looked at Kita, who nodded.

  “So, how do we plug you in?” Valor asked Kita.

  “I’m already connected to it. I’m starting a test run.” Kita’s computer wasn’t exactly designed for computation, but in a pinch, she didn’t mind feeling brain dead for a few minutes.