by Saxon Andrew
Gregor stared at Kaylee and saw something he had never seen in her eyes. She was past anger. He turned to Jek, sighed, and nodded.
Jek began sending his thoughts to everyone in the room. They saw the Pirate sitting in front of Sam as he picked at the meal in front of him. They not only heard his words but they could feel his emotions. Everyone in the room was struck by what they saw in the pirate. Kaylee’s eyes were filled with tears as she said at the end, “We didn’t know this would happen! We just didn’t know!”
Gregor took Kaylee into his arms and held her tightly. Jek looked at Gregor, “What did you see?”
Gregor held Kaylee tight and slowly shook his head, “That man is lost. Everything he has ever been is gone and he is now filled with sorrow and loneliness. He was once a warrior and now he’s…nothing.”
Sam looked around the room, “We will know if they are sincere and we will allow them to come with us and find their redemption. They stand no chance against the Tronan Ships but they deserve a chance to find peace in making the effort.”
Gregor looked at Sam and said, “They should be allowed to do so.”
Kaylee’s head went back and her eyes narrowed, “You still want to see them die!”
Gregor looked into her eyes and softly said, “I want to see them make a difference, Kaylee. They deserve the chance.”
Kaylee stared into Gregor’s eyes and said, “What do you mean?”
Gregor looked at the Queen, “Majesty, is Albert still around?”
“Yes, Gregor, he’s working in the installation facilities.”
Kaylee looked up at Gregor, “What are you thinking?”
Gregor looked at Sam, “The computer whiz we used to disable the weapons on the warships in Earth’s Fleet is working here. I believe he can undo what he did and give those ships back the use of their weapons. They will go into battle with at least a chance of surviving.”
Kaylee wrapped her arms tightly around Gregor and hugged him. Gregor looked at Sam, “Those ships should make a difference in your efforts to survive.”
Sam looked at the Queen, “Would it be possible for you to modify some of my ships and add a force field to them.”
The Queen sat back on her throne, “We are currently selling force fields to commercial vessels for sixty thousand coin each. We seal the force field so that no one can steal our technology and if anyone attempted to do so, the offending ship will be destroyed and every force field we might have installed in your ships will self-destruct.”
Gregor looked at the Queen, “That won’t work with them, Majesty.” The Queen looked at Gregor and he said, “The Earth Warships will have a working force field and they can just look at it and reproduce it.”
The Queen’s eyes went wide and Sam quickly said, “I don’t have time to do that before the Tronan Warships arrive. I would prefer to pay you for installing them and I will make an agreement that we will not share that technology with anyone! And I do mean anyone! Further, if we want a force field installed on future ships, we will come here and pay you to have it done.”
The Queen looked at Jek, “Show me what he was just thinking.” Jek looked at Sam and then showed her his thoughts. The Queen started nodding and said, “We have a lot of ships waiting for a force field, it may be difficult to work your ships in.”
Sam looked at Jek and he reached inside his front pocket and took a small box out. Sam looked at the Queen and said, “May I give this to, Kel.” The Queen’s head tilted to the left and her eyes narrowed. She nodded and Sam took the small box to Kel.
Kel deftly slid the container out of the top and looked at the contents. His eyes flew wide open and he took an involuntary step back. Everyone stared at him and Kel said, “This box contains pure Trillium!”
The Queen’s head went back and Sam asked Kel, “How much do you think the contents of that box is worth?”
Kel looked at Sam, turned to the Queen and said, “Forty million coin, Majesty.”
Sam turned to the Queen, “I will pay ten times your normal price in Trillium to install force fields on my ships.”
Gregor looked at Sam and said where the Queen could hear, “Why don’t you just have them also install their blasters while they’re at it.” Sam looked at Gregor and he said, “They were developed on Earth and they are far more powerful than the ones you are currently using.”
Sam jerked his head back to the Queen, “If you will do that, I will give one of these boxes for each ship you modify.”
The Queen’s head went back in shock and Gregor smiled, “This is a good way for you to accumulate wealth at a speed you never anticipated, Majesty.”
The Monarch said, “How do we know we can trust them not to use our weapons against us, Gregor.”
Gregor looked at the four standing in front of him and smiled before saying to the Queen and her mate, “You only truly learn who someone is by observing them under extreme stress. If you had to say, do think they are trustworthy?”
The Queen looked at Sam, Jek, Leonidas, and Desiree. She looked at her mate sitting beside her and he smiled and nodded. She looked at Kel and he raised his front paws and nodded at well. She looked at Sam, “Are you willing to enter into an agreement with me to keep your promises?”
Sam smiled, “I am, Majesty.”
“Do you have the authority to make that agreement?”
“I do.”
The Queen looked at Jek, “Is this true?”
Jek smiled, “We do have a government on our planet that will honor any agreement Sam makes. After our attack on the Tronan Warship, Sam is one of our planet’s heroes. I suspect if he survives the Tronan, he will one day lead our planet.”
Sam turned his head around and looked at Jek, “I don’t want the job!”
“Maybe you don’t now but one day you will have a family and they will take your attention.”
Everyone listened to them and the Queen smiled, “Send me your ships. Have them bring one of the boxes with each of them and we’ll put them ahead of the others.”
Gregor looked at the Queen and said, “Majesty, I know that you will need some time to work this out; may I take these two with me to deliver their swords to Bellingham?”
Leonidas and Desiree’s eyes went wide and the Queen looked at Sam, “Are you ok with them leaving?”
Sam nodded, went to Desiree, and hugged her. He extended his hand to Leonidas but Leonidas pulled him into a bear hug, “Thank you for saving us, Sam.”
Sam smiled and said, “Take lots of images. I want to see what Bellingham looks like.”
Leonidas chuckled and looked at Gregor, “Let’s go.”
Sam and the Queen watched the four walk out of the room. Gregor was talking with Leo and Kaylee and Desiree were speaking at high speed. The Queen looked at Sam, “They are truly unique.” Sam smiled and nodded.
• • •
Gregor led Leo and Desiree out of the giant building toward a warship that was brilliantly reflecting the sun’s rays off its hull. Leo looked at Desiree and Gregor said, “Yes, my ship’s hull is made of the metal used to forge your swords.”
Desiree smiled, “It’s beautiful, Gregor.”
“Let’s go on board and I’ll introduce you to it.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed, “What?”
Kaylee smiled, “You’ll see.”
The boarded the ship and Gregor raised two chairs out of the deck for Leo and Desiree. Gregor looked up and said, “Computer, we need to go back to Bellingham as quickly as possible.”
Leo and Desiree heard over the wall speaker, “Isn’t this the two humans you came here to eliminate?”
Desiree and Leo’s heads went back in shock as Gregor answered, “I made a mistake. They aren’t who I thought they were.”
“Well it’s clear they are not like any other human I’ve ever seen. Their bodies have undergone a rather massive change.”
Gregor nodded, “That’s true. This is Leonidas and Desiree. They have agreed to allow me to take their swords b
ack to Bellingham and place them where they can be honored.”
“Gregor, why would their swords require a place of honor?” the Computer asked.
“They were forged at least two-thousand years ago by the original colonists that came to Bellingham.”
“May I see them?”
Leo looked at Desiree and could only shake his head at what they were witnessing. This computer did not sound like a machine. Desiree was also shocked by what she was seeing. Gregor looked at Leonidas, “May I see your sword for a moment?” Leo pulled his sword and Gregor took it and put it in front of his console’s monitor. There was a moment of silence and the computer said, “I didn’t really believe you but you’re right. That is the ancient MacGregor Clan Marking.”
Leonidas looked at Gregor, “Is that computer alive?”
Gregor looked at Leo but the computer answered before he could say anything, “In the strictest definition of the term, I am not alive; I do not have any organic substances in my structure. I do have several advanced processors that mimic the thought process that a human brain produces.”
Desiree tilted her head, “Are the computers on the Earth Warships like this one?”
Kaylee nodded, “They’re pretty close. These type of computers get better with time and we’ve been through a lot with our ships.”
Gregor smiled and nodded, “This one can get quite ornery at times.”
“Gregor, you accuse me of being ornery?! That’s like calling a Nagsta a kitten. No one can be as hard headed, stubborn…”
Gregor looked at Leo and smiled, “See.”
The computer stopped and said, “Well, welcome aboard. I really had reservations with Gregor going to kill the two of you but he refused to listen to me.”
Gregor’s mouth tightened and Leo asked, “What reservations did you have?”
“I saw the recording of you in M’s when you confronted the Dragons and it was clear that your speed was impressive but not like Gregor and Kaylee’s. It had to come from somewhere else other than Earth.”
Leo looked at Gregor as he rolled his eyes, “The computer is right. I told it to keep its opinions to itself.” Gregor looked up, “I should have listened. Next time I will.”
“You always say that after the fact. Next time won’t be any different.”
Kaylee smiled, “Lighten up, Computer. No harm was done and we have two swords to take home to honor.”
“What about the other two?”
“We’ll come and pick them up later.”
“What’s wrong with now? You know how life gets in the way and opportunities can be missed,” the computer replied.
Gregor tilted his head and Leonidas said, “Is Jester out of the way.”
Kaylee shrugged, “Not really. We will come close to its intersection.”
Leo lifted his communicator, “Gem, are you receiving me?”
“LEO! Is everything alright?!”
“Yes, everything is fine. Where are you?”
“We’ve arrived back at Jester from our audience with the King two days ago and I need you to come here immediately.”
“Why?”
“The King has agreed to sell Sam six-hundred of his most advanced warships. He’s already started modifying them where another species can operate their systems. He’s also turned ownership of our three ships over to us.”
Leo looked at Desiree and then said, “Gem, the Dragons have also agreed to sell us force fields. We need to take our three ships to their installation facilities to have a force field installed on them immediately.”
There was silence and then they heard, “Leo, are you serious?”
“I am. Standby a moment.” Leo looked at Gregor, “Perhaps we should go to Jester and I’ll ask Gem and Ana to give you their swords. You can take all four of them back to Bellingham and bring their replacements to us afterwards.”
Gregor looked at Leo and shrugged, “I can see that too much is happening too quickly. I’m going to give you my contact frequency and you can call me after your ships have been modified.”
Leo nodded and lifted his communicator, “Gem, we’re on our way. Meet us in M’s in…” Leo looked at Gregor and mouthed, “Ten hours.” Leo nodded, “Ten hours.”
“What’s going on, Leo?”
“Sam is still at the Dragon’s planet hammering out the details of the agreement and Desiree and I are coming in another ship. I’ll see you in ten hours.” Leo ended the connection and looked at Gregor, “It took two days to go to the Dragon’s planet.”
The Computer said over the wall speaker, “No ship in this universe is as fast as I am.”
Leo looked at Gregor and he nodded, “The metal in our hull does more than just offer a defense. It moves through the filaments at speeds that no other vessel can match.”
Desiree looked at Gregor, “Why do you have so much hatred for Earth?”
“I don’t hate Earth. The vast majority of Earth’s population are good people who have been suffering from starvation for centuries.”
Desiree sighed, “Leo and I were one of them before I joined the Legion?”
Kaylee looked at her, “Legion?”
“I’ll tell you about it after Gregor tells us why he hates the ships that were formerly in Earth’s Fleet.”
Gregor sighed, “The Leaders of an organization on Earth took Kaylee and me as children and began modifying us to carry out a plan to take control of the known universe. In the process of changing me, they killed my mother and my adopted father.”
Leonidas’ eyes narrowed, “I think I understand now. They also invaded Bellingham, didn’t they?”
Gregor nodded, “They did. However, we made them pay for that mistake.”
Desiree looked at Kaylee, “Tell me how the two of you got together. When I saw you in M’s a few years ago, it looked like you were there to capture Gregor.”
Kaylee smiled brightly, “I was.” She began telling them what happened and the ten hours passed faster than they thought as they shared their histories. At the end, there were four new friends that held a deep respect for each other. Leonidas and Desiree’s life as mercenaries had Gregor and Kaylee shaking their heads. They arrived above Jester and boarded a shuttle.
Chapter Fourteen
Embree looked around M’s and yawned. Blakely looked at him, “Bored?”
Embree nodded, “Actually, I am. There’s a lot to be done and time is being wasted just sitting here doing nothing.”
Freddie smiled, “You need to learn how to relax, Embree. There’s always time for hard work and worry, but a good time to relax is hard to come by.”
Embree smiled slightly as Gem said, “Leo just contacted me; they’re on the way down.”
Shelly walked up with two drinks and handed one to Embree. He took it from her and took a small sip. Shelly saw Gem and Ana’s expression and said, “What?”
“Leo and Desiree are on the way. They should be here in a few minutes,” Ana answered.
“I wish Sam and Jek were with them. Do you know how long they’re going to be gone?”
Gem shook his head, “No, but Leonidas probably has an idea about when we’ll see them.”
Embree nodded toward the door, “They’re here.” He stood up and went across the dance floor to greet them. Ana joined him while Shelly and Gem waited for them to come to the table.
Shelly’s eyes narrowed, “Who is that with them?”
Gem’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head, “That’s the man we believe is from Bellingham.” Shelly looked at him with her eyes narrowed and Gem said, “Leo and Desiree are not wearing their swords.”
“Is that a good thing?”
Gem tilted his head, “I would never believe that they would go out without them. I know Ana and I wouldn’t do it.”
Gem and Shelly stood up as the group walked across the Dance floor to the table, sat down, and Leonidas said, “I want to introduce Gregor and Kaylee MacGregor to everyone.”
Gem said, “You’re the one that
killed the alien in front of this place a few years back.”
The man looked at Gem, smiled, and nodded, “Yes, I am.”
Ana looked at Leo, “How were you able to find them?”
Leo looked at Ana and smiled, “Actually, they found us. The Dragons told them about our coming to talk with their Queen and they met us there.”
Gregor looked at the group and raised a shoulder, “Leonidas isn’t telling you that we went there to kill them but the one named Sam showed us that we were making a mistake.”
Ana looked at Leo, “Is this true?”
Leo nodded, “Yes, but we’ve worked things out and I understand why he wanted to do it. He believed we were someone else that deserved killing.”
Shelly said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about your planet.” She looked at Leo, “Is there a reason you are no longer wearing your sword?”
Leo jerked slightly as his head went back, “Yes, there is and before we get started on our business, Gregor has requested to speak with Gem and Ana.”
Gem and Ana sat down at the table along with everyone else. Gregor remained standing. He looked at Gem and Ana and said, “Leonidas and Desiree have agreed to give me their swords to take back to Bellingham…”
Ana interrupted him, “You can’t be serious!” She looked at Desiree, “Were you forced to do this?!”
Desiree shook her head and smiled softly, “No, Ana. I willingly agreed to do it.”
“Why would you ever agree to that?!”
Desiree went over to Ana and sat down beside her, “Give Gregor a chance to explain.” Ana’s eyes were little more than slits as she glanced at the man from Bellingham and then looked at Desiree. She stared into Desiree’s eyes and then nodded.
Gregor tilted his head and smiled, “Before I begin, would it be possible for me to see your swords?”
Gem and Ana looked at Leonidas and saw him nod. Gem took his sword out of its scabbard and held it out to Gregor. Gregor looked at both sides of the blade and everyone saw something in his eyes. He looked at Gem and said, “This blade was forged for a warrior that was a member of the MacAfee Clan. That clan no longer exists today. So many of them died from disease, mal-nutrition, and wild animal attacks when the original colonists landed on Bellingham that the small numbers of survivors were taken into other clans. None of their swords survived.” He looked at Ana and she drew her sword and held it out for him to inspect. He looked at the blade and smiled, “May I see the other side?” Ana turned it over and Gregor’s eyes flew wide open in shock. Kaylee saw his response and she jumped out of her chair and ran over to see what had stunned him. She looked at the mark on the blade and her hand went to her mouth. She started shaking her head and Ana asked, “What has you so upset?”