by Stella Cassy
I nodded my head gently against his chest to show I was still listening, though I was half-dozing off.
“All was well, for centuries. King Yarok fought and won every battle, except one. Finally, after many, many centuries, after fending and fighting him off a thousand times, Death finally claimed the great King Yarok.”
Rethryn let out a long, slow sigh at the thought of it.
“And when he died, a million of his subjects died of sadness. Ten million more killed themselves, unable to bear living without his glorious leadership. But it was not just them that suffered. The planet itself, the planet which he had fought and conquered, was overcome with a grief.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered, eyes now firmly closed as I tried to imagine a planet crying.
“Thirren erupted again like it never had before, a million new volcanoes arose overnight. Ten thousand rivers of lava poured forth the tears of Thirren. In anguish, Thirren itself swore never to be ruled by one king again, lest it suffer the same grief.”
In my head I could see it all — the planet exploding in volcanic eruptions, while I added in some earthquakes and firestorms too for good measure. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep while Rethryn continued.
“…and so we respect and worship the volcanoes, because they are a reminder that there will never be another leader like King Yarok again, not until…”
But I was asleep before the story ended, dreaming of dragons and fire, magma and eruptions, ash and brimstone, and making love on hot rocks and warm sandy beaches.
29
Talia
Talia
I was awoken by the blaring of an alarm, my dreams of floating down a lazy-river made of lava in a granite inner-tube, while sipping on a brimstone cocktail (whatever one of those was), rudely interrupted.
Rethryn was already dressed and half-way out the door by the time I had both my eyes open and my brain sufficiently engaged to remember where I was and what I was doing.
Bleary eyed, my body filled with nice aches, I pulled on a dress I’d made from a Drakon shirt and headed for the bridge.
When I arrived, I found all the crew in attendance, Rethryn lording over them from his central position, standing in front of his commander’s chair.
I quickly figured out what was going on thanks to the display on the screen, and the commands being hurled back and forth.
“What kind of ship is that?” Rethryn asked, his tone half-annoyed, half-curious.
“A Pax ship, but type unknown,” said Thrantok, his voice crisp and clear as he got his captain up to speed. “It must be a new design. It has a propulsion like none we’ve seen before, and we can expect it to reach us shortly.”
On the screen there was a visualization of our current situation. There was a dot labelled Nort — the same planet I had crash-landed on before — and in-between the planet and us was a craft labelled Unidentified Pax Vessel. Around the planet Nort were a dozen other Pax vessels, several of them were labelled as destroyer and battleship, but another six were labelled unidentified like the one that seemed to be in pursuit of us.
“Any news from Nort?” Rethryn asked.
“No direct contact, but there is a repeated distress message that is being broadcast on all available frequencies from the planet. It states that the Pax have launched a surprise attack on their planet, and they request assistance.”
Rethryn snorted a stream of smoke from his nostrils. He appeared to be excited by what was going on, unlike me. I was nervous, on the verge of being scared — whether I crossed that barrier would depend on what happened in the next few moments.
“Sir, the other unidentified craft around Nort are altering their positions. They may be planning to pursue us. We are a long distance from them though, and it will take some time before they can catch up with us. The nearest vessel, however, is only a short distance away.”
Rethryn slowly nodded. “Of course. They know that one ship is not enough to take us on. We would destroy it, obliterating it into a trillion pieces of space dust. That is why they wish to bring the other six.”
“Ye-es, sir,” said Thrantok somewhat hesitantly.
It seemed to me that Thrantok was less convinced of their ship’s ability to destroy the pursuer than Rethryn. But I don’t think I’d ever met anyone as confident as Rethryn in any situation.
“Did you scan the ship? Can you identify its weapons systems?”
“At this distance, I have not been able to glean much information, sir. The ship is equipped with missile bays, and what appear to be beam weapons and railguns, though the specific models of the weapon systems are as yet unavailable. Sir, these ships appear to be prototypes, and are possibly equipped with new, more powerful weapons than we’ve seen before.”
“Or perhaps they are only testing their new propulsion systems and loaded on any old junk weapons they had lying around.”
“Yes, sir.” Thrantok did not sound convinced by this possibility at all. “Sir, the Pax are hailing us.”
Rethryn sent out another smoke-filled snort. “Fine, let’s see what the little fur balls have to say for themselves. On screen.”
I shuddered as soon as the image presented itself. I hadn’t seen any of the cruel little aliens since leaving Minapolis, and if I’d had my way, I would never have seen another. They were horrible, fur-covered things with intelligent but cruel eyes that always seemed to look at you as if they were assessing how they might best hurt you. They probably were.
The Pax that appeared before us was a brilliant white color, almost luminescent, and his face filled the entire screen, so we could see nothing of the ship behind him.
“Surrender at once. If you do so we will take your vessel, cargo and slaves, and then place you and your crew on Nort. If you do not, we shall disable your ship and then take your vessel, cargo and slaves and kill you. Your choice.”
Rethryn’s answer started with a quiet growl that turned into a loud roar. The Pax slowly blinked, but did not comment on the display of bravado, instead waiting for Rethryn to finally speak.
“We will do nothing of the sort. Come after me and I will destroy your poxy little spaceship. We know it is only a prototype craft and we have already figured out a dozen points of weakness.”
The Pax dropped his head back and opened his mouth to reveal ugly, sharp looking teeth. His laughter was silent, and all the more menacing for it. Eventually, he lowered his head back down and stared into the screen.
“Our ship is impregnable. Your threat is an idle one. I shall give you a short time to re-consider your response. A very short time.”
The screen flicked off.
“Sir, they are gaining on us rapidly. They are already in missile range but have not yet fired. The six other similar vessels around Nort seem to be adjusting their positions. Sir, I think they are preparing to launch themselves after us.”
Rethryn was breathing deeply. Was he worried? I was worried. We couldn’t take them all on in battle, not with a crummy little ship like this one.
“Rethryn?” I said, quietly into his ear. “I have an idea.”
He stared at me while he decided whether he wanted to hear it or not. I’m sure he knew my plan wouldn’t involve destroying seven Pax ships.
“Yes?”
“Let me negotiate with them. I’ve had a lot of practice.”
It was true, I had. Most of my negotiating practice had been wheedling money out of my father. It didn’t matter though; it was all valuable experience.
“Sir, I’ve assessed their weapons systems. I think it will be a close fight in a one on one duel. But the other six ships are now in a position to depart Nort after us. Even with our velocity we could expect them to catch us within a couple of solars.”
“Thank you, first officer.” Rethryn turned to me. “Go on then. But don’t cost me too much.”
I nodded at him. It was time to make myself useful. “Put me on screen. Like that Pax was, so they can’t see anyone else.”
It may have been
a little bit of conceit on my part, but I had a feeling that they would be more amenable to negotiating with the most gorgeous and sexy female within a billion miles than with their hated enemies, the Drakon.
Putting the most flirtatious smile onto my face that I could muster, I nodded to Thrantok, indicating that I was ready to communicate with the Pax.
In a moment, the screen was again filled with the furry white face of the enemy’s commander. He blinked as soon as we were connected, then began to smile before regaining control of his features.
“What — who — is this?” he demanded. His manner was, if I wasn’t mistaken, less gruff than it had been before.
“My name is Princess Talia Maxwell.” I’d never called myself a princess before, and I guess I wasn’t one yet, but I thought it might earn me a touch more credit. “I am traveling aboard this vessel. I do not believe you have any qualms with my people, correct?”
“We don’t need to fight your people. We just enslave you.” He dropped his head back in another silent cackle of laughter. I ignored the jibe.
“I am confident that we will easily be able to destroy your ship. We are testing some new weapons systems of our own that are going to be a game changer. The problem — from our perspective — is the six other vessels you have. We estimate they will be able to catch us within five days.”
The Pax’s expression had become serious. I locked my eyes with his, so that he could see I wasn’t lying. Which I totally was — both the weapons system and estimated time it would take to catch us were complete bullshit.
“I estimate two.”
Nice. He didn’t comment on my bullshit weapons, or that we would easily destroy his ship. Luckily the Pax didn’t have quite the same level of unshakable bravado as the Drakon.
“I think we would destroy at least three of those vessels before we succumbed to your overwhelming numbers. Perhaps four.” While I paused, I could hear Rethryn snarling in the background. He was lucky I was exaggerating. If I’d told the truth — we’d be lucky to survive a fight with even one of them — he probably would have died of shame.
The Pax slowly nodded, pleased at the compliment I’d paid him by mentioning the overwhelming numbers. But I could tell he was assessing what else I’d said. Particularly about how his ship would easily be destroyed, and how it would be days before the others could even catch up with us. By then, who knows what other vessels would have arrived to help Nort.
“So, I said, I have a proposal for you.”
The Pax didn’t say anything, but his ears pricked up and he slowly nodded his head to indicate he would listen to it.
“I happen to be traveling with a huge amount of gold.” There was another snarl behind me which I did my best to ignore. “A half ton of it. I would be willing to give you some of that — a quarter ton — if you let me continue on my peaceful journey.”
The screen went black.
“You would give away my treasure?” Rethryn asked softly in my ear.
“Hey, that treasure was my inheritance, which you stole. You’re lucky I’m not demanding all of it back. And anyway, what’s a quarter ton of gold?”
Thrantok got my attention.
“They are calling back.”
“On screen,” I said.
The face of the Pax appeared again.
“I have listened to your offer and consulted with my crew. You will jettison the entire half ton of gold within the next five minutes. If you do so, we will let you proceed. If not, we will bring you to battle, and I think your cockiness will be your demise.”
I glared at the screen. “I offered a quarter ton. I need the rest of that gold.”
“More than you need your life?”
“Let me keep one eighth ton of it. I need it to pay my passage, even if my mission will now be a failure.”
The Pax stared hard at me. Ever so slightly, I pouted my lips, and looked into his eyes like I found him the most attractive alien I’d ever met. A little smile crept across his face. “Very well. You may keep one eighth of a ton of the gold. The rest must be jettisoned immediately. If you short me, I shall regroup with my other six ships, and even if it takes us ten revolutions, I will hunt you down, destroy your crew and make you my personal slave.”
I put a hand up to my mouth, kissed it, and gently blew the Pax a kiss.
“We have a deal.”
Thrantok immediately cut the connection.
“Were you flirting with him?” Rethryn asked. “I should jettison myself in a spacesuit with the gold and challenge him to a duel.”
I rolled my eyes at Rethryn. “Yeah, yeah, I know I’m hot, but that’d be a really dumb idea.”
He stared at me.
“Guys? Why don’t you go chuck that gold out the airlock?” I suggested to the crew.
“Do it,” Rethryn commanded with a growl.
I reached up, and wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling his head down. Gently, I kissed him on the lips.
“I’ll make it worth your while to stay here,” I purred.
“Come. My bridge watch should not have started yet. We have a matter to attend to in my cabin.”
“Do we now?” I said, pulling him in for another kiss.
One of my hands dropped down, and I pressed it against him. His dragon was stirring.
“Urgently,” he said.
“Oh!” I shouted as he picked me up, and, once again, threw me over his shoulder.
It looked like it was going to be an exciting morning in more than one way.
With both of us still high off the adrenaline rush of our close encounter with death at the hands of the Pax, we burned off our excess energy in a very enthusiastic, exuberant and noisy manner.
Once again, we proved that in space people could definitely hear you scream.
30
Talia
Talia
Rethryn had run the ship at full speed for the rest of our journey, urging his crew to eke out every last ounce of power that its propulsion systems could provide.
“The one, solitary, saving grace of this ship is that it’s fast,” Rethryn said as we stood by the gangway.
“Do you think you beat the others?”
He shrugged in a very human-like gesture.
“I know not. It is out of my hands now. I achieved my mission, which is the most important thing, but beating the others would be the fire-geyser atop the volcano.”
“The cherry on top,” I said with a nod of agreement.
He gave me a strange look. “That makes no sense.”
Even with the aid of technology in the form of translation chips, there were still communication issues. Then again, even on Earth, I’d had communication problems with just about every guy I’d dated. It must be a male trait, I decided.
There was the sound of roaring outside, and I turned to look at Rethryn to see if he seemed concerned.
“Don’t worry. That is just us entering the atmosphere. On a proper ship you wouldn’t be able to hear anything, but this heap of junk barely has any shielding.”
“How reassuring. How do you think we would have fared in a fight with that Pax ship?”
Rethryn rubbed his chin, a dark look on his face. “Poorly.”
“I pretty much saved us all, didn’t I?”
Ever since we’d left the Pax ship behind after the small gold payment, I’d been feeling rather full of myself. And why shouldn’t I? I’d saved not just my own life, but those of everyone else aboard as well.
“Perhaps so. But the Pax now owe me some gold, and I intend to reclaim it.”
“If you do, perhaps you can turn a little bit of it into some jewelry for me.”
He looked at me and nodded. “That would be a fitting use for it. My queen shall be adorned with so much gold she will be unable to walk. You will sit on your throne beside me, wreathed and layered in more gold than any queen has ever dreamed of, the sheer weight of it requiring assistance of slaves just to move.”
“I don’t think I’
ve ever dreamed of having too much gold, but that might be pushing it.”
“I shall purchase some of the most beautiful slaves for you, gorgeous young girls from Earth.”
“Nuh-uh. I don’t want slaves. But if I did, I want some handsome men, not girls.”
Rethryn frowned at that but didn’t push it. Of course it was all idle chatter anyway, he was a long, long way from becoming king. Sometimes, though, I thought he really did think he had a chance.
There was a thump as the ship landed on the planet.
“We’re here! Open the gangway!” Rethryn shouted, his words booming and bouncing around the inside of the ship so loudly that I was forced to cover my ears.
With a complaining whine, the gangway began to open. It hadn’t been the same since Dad’s men had blasted it with their weapons back in California. That felt like years ago now.
“Come,” he said grasping my hand and leading me forward.
The first thing that hit me was the air. It was like breathing gravy. A gravy made of sulfur and brimstone, but in a way that was more pleasant than it perhaps sounded.
“You know what this reminds me of?”
“What?” Rethryn asked as we continued down the ramp.
“A few years back, my girlfriends and I decided — screw it, we’re not doing Miami for spring break again — and we hopped on a jet to Japan instead. We really spoiled ourselves, spending the whole week at a hot spring resort. It smelled like this.”
“I don’t understand most of the things you just said, but I’m glad it meets your approval. You will be glad to know that we have numerous hot springs here.”
“Awesome!”
As we got down the ramp, I got my first glimpses of Thirren. My new home. Since we’d arrived at a space port, the first views were perhaps not quite as stunning as some of the other parts of the planet, and I was instead presented with a rather utilitarian and industrial scene.
Ahead of us were large, stone buildings, and around us to the sides were dozens of space vehicles, most considerably larger than the one we had just emerged from. If I wasn’t mistaken, I caught Rethryn eying some of the ships with something of an envious eye.