Teeth & Claws_A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure

by Michael-Scott Earle

  I half expected Persephone to visit me while in the bathroom, since she normally seemed to when I was alone and we were in hyperdrive or warpdrive. But I didn’t hear her soft whisper or feel her presence anywhere near me, so I wondered if seeing her during the time we were in the foldingdrive had affected her.

  I threw on one of Persephone’s flight suits and then strapped my gun belt on before walking out of my room, but as soon as I turned the corner, I came face to face with Sivaha.

  “Ahh, husband, I was just coming to wake you,” she said as she opened her arms.

  “I woke up a few minutes ago,” I said after I returned her embrace and kiss. She was wearing a dark red dress that pushed up her perfect breasts. The darker shade contrasted with her pale skin, and I found my eyes tracing her figure to where the short billowing skirt fell. It only covered down to her mid-thigh, and I had the sudden desire to run my hands up and down her long legs.

  “We will be exiting hyperdrive in half an hour.”

  “Damn, I was asleep for a long time.”

  “You needed it,” she said as she wrapped her arm around mine so that she could walk with me toward the bridge. “Madalena and I have spent time with Aasne. She knows of your past and other wives.”

  “You told her about Zea and Eve?” I asked.

  “Yes, and Paula and Kasta,” Sivaha replied.

  “Ha, I still haven’t decided--”

  “Sometimes husbands don’t get to make decisions about these things,” Sivaha purred, and I decided to let the topic go for now.

  The crew was assembled on the bridge, and they all stood to salute me when I entered. I returned their gesture, and then made my way to the front where I found Nikki, Madalena, and Aasne standing to greet me.

  “Hello, ladies,” I said, and the three of them smiled at me. Aasne opened her mouth to speak, but I raised a finger and then turned to Nikki.

  “Thirty minutes?” I asked the pilot.

  “Yes, Adam, and then we’ll only need a quarter of an hour in warpdrive.”

  “I will submit to you now,” Aasne said quickly as soon as I turned back to her.

  “My wives told me that they spoke to you about my past and our mission,” I said.

  “Yes,” the beautiful freckled woman said with a nod. “They answered my questions, but I have more for you after we are wed.”

  “Do you agree with my mission?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “By submitting to me, your clan ceases to exist. They will become Vaish.”

  “I understand,” she said. “You have beaten the valkyries and my father. I am the key to my Blood Overlord Clan.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “but do you believe in my mission?”

  Aasne stared at me for a few moments, and I guessed she was trying to figure out where I was going with my questions.

  “Yes,” she said. “The Prime Valkyrie has told me of your past, and I have seen your power with my own eyes. Odin and Freyja must have blessed you.”

  “Aasne,” I said. “Will you serve me?”

  “Yes,” she replied, and I could see some confusion on her face. “I will submit to you, and then--”

  “No,” I interrupted her. “You wanted to become a valkyrie, and your father tried to take that choice from you. Then I took the choice from you again. I’m hoping you understand my reasons. I need your empire to leverage against the other clans and fight for me. The Draugr are incredibly powerful, and the Nordar may be the only people who can stop them.”

  “I believe you and your queens,” Aasne said. “I am ready to submit to you.” She stepped toward me, and moved to kneel, but my hands caught hers and she stopped moving.

  “I will offer you a choice,” I said. “Most of us were not given a choice. The Prime Valkyrie didn’t give me one, and I did not give Sivaha one. Your circumstances are different.”

  “What do you mean?” Aasne asked.

  “I do not think you will betray me,” I said. “So I will give you the option to be queen of your people and serve me through an alliance.”

  “Without submitting to you?” Her green eyes went wide with shock.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “My lord, this is--” Madalena started to say, but I shook my head at her, and she closed her mouth.

  “Or you can submit to me and become my wife,” I continued as I squeezed Aasne’s hands. “I will give you a choice.”

  Aasne’s face was white, and her mouth hung open for a few moments. Then she blinked her big eyes and turned to look at Madalena and Sivaha. Neither of them spoke, and the young woman turned back to me.

  “You will allow me to rule my people without being submitted to you?”

  “Yes,” I said, “as long as you help me bring the other clans to heel and help me fight the Draugr.”

  “But your mission was to unite the clans,” Aasne pointed out.

  “If I can trust you to have my back, then I don’t need you to submit to me. I’m giving you the choice.”

  Aasne shook her head, blinked her eyes a few times as if she was trying to fight back tears, and then gave me a half smile. “You are a remarkable man, Adam Vaish.”

  “I’m just trying to do the right thing,” I said. “There isn’t enough of it in the galaxy.”

  “Then I will take you up on your offer,” she said, and I heard Sivaha sigh loudly from behind me.

  “Alright,” I said as I returned her smile. “I’ll still need you to come with us for this wedding so I can deal with Waymund. Afterward, we’ll need your help with the Jotnar. Then I’ll give you the place where we have--”

  “No,” she interrupted me as she raised her hand. “You misunderstand me.”

  “Oh?” I asked.

  “I will take you up on the offer of a choice and make the same one I have already made. Now, however, I am even happier about my decision. I am making it on my own, and I feel it is the right decision for the Nordar, my clan that will soon be Vaish, and me. I appreciate the offer not to submit to you, but every Nordar woman wishes to marry the strongest of men, and that is you, Adam.”

  Aasne kneeled before me and then pointed at the knife that Sivaha had given me. Her words had kind of stunned me, so I pulled the blade and handed it to her without really thinking about my movements.

  “Who will witness?” Aasne asked.

  “I will witness,” Madalena said.

  “I will witness,” Sivaha said.

  “I will witness,” Nikki said.

  “I will witness,” Lux said as she moved

  “I am Aasne Idonan. Eldest offspring of King Toriton Idonan. Eldest offspring of King Cantra Idonan. Eldest offspring of Queen Lelhaan Idonan.”

  “She is Aasne Idonan. Eldest offspring of King Toriton Idonan. Eldest offspring of King Cantra Idonan. Eldest offspring of Queen Lelhaan Idonan.” my bridge crew repeated in unison.

  “I am Aasne Idonan. Queen of the Idonan Blood Overlord Clan.” She cut open her hand with my knife, and blood began to pour out of her palm and drip on the floor of Persephone

  “She is Aasne Idonan. Queen of the Idonan Blood Overlord Clan.”

  My head spun again, and the beast purred. It wanted to claim another woman, and I felt like the human side of my subconscious, the part that shouldn’t have wanted to have another woman bent to my desires, was beginning to agree with the beast.

  “I am Aasne Idonan. I submit my body, mind, and soul to Adam Vaish. I will serve him as consort, advisor, eyes, arms, legs, and heart. We will be bonded both in life, and when we arrive in Valhalla. Our people will be united in one clan under him.” The young woman cut her other palm with my knife, flipped the blade over, and passed it to me while the rest of the crew repeated her words.

  Aasne and I hadn’t taken our eyes from each other, and it felt as if I was falling into their geen depths. I could feel her heart pulse in the air and her breath leave her lungs. Or maybe it was my heartbeat and my breath.

  Or maybe it was ours in unison.
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  I drew the blade across both my palms and then slid the knife into my sheath. Her hands were already reaching up for mine and her blood sizzled in my palm when our fingers wrapped around each other’s.

  “I accept your submission, Aasne Idonan,” I whispered, and then the pressure from my head and chest released as if I had just come up from the deep end of a swimming pool.

  “They are bound,” Sivaha whispered after a few moments of silence.

  “Thank you for the choice,” Aasne said as I helped her stand. “I am eager to please you, my lord.”

  “Yeah,” I said as I gave her a half smile, and then I looked back at the gathered crew and nodded. They all got the hint and then returned to their stations.

  “Will you allow me to cook you dinner tonight?” Aasne said after we had sat back on our chairs.

  “Maybe,” I said. “We have to see how the talks with your admirals go, and we need to solidify our plan for Waymund.”

  “Yes, okay,” Aasne said. “Then bed tonight? If I cannot pleasure you with my cooking, then I still will want to pleasure you with my body.”

  “Do not press him,” Sivaha said. “Our husband has much to think about. When he takes you to his bed, it will be well worth the wait.”

  “Ahh, okay,” Aasne smiled at the silver-haired woman and then bowed her head to me. I reached over to the armrest and squeezed her hand, and a bit of color came to her cheeks.

  “Leaving hyperdrive in fifteen seconds,” Nikki said.

  “Don’t worry about the countdown,” I said. “Just jump to warpdrive,”

  “Yes, Adam,” Nikki said, and then I felt Persephone shudder for half a moment. The screen suddenly had trillions of stars, but then the view went to black again as we quickly moved to warpdrive.

  “Madalena, we need more chairs at the front of the bridge,” I said.

  “Hmmm,” the Prime Valkyrie said as she looked at the space between the three pilot seats and the five officer chairs. Then she turned her head to look behind us at where the gunner’s stations were.

  “We can raise the dais higher, and then put another step down here,” Madalena said as she gestured the space at our feet.

  “How many more seats can we fit?” I asked.

  “Four would be the most,” she replied. “That will give us space to walk down the steps, and will not feel cramped.”

  “We’ll need each of them to be wired to the cannons and control terminals,” I said as I gestured to the panel that was hidden under the armrest.

  “It will take some time,” Madalena said. “Persephone’s systems are not Nordar, so the wiring might be different.”

  “How much time is some time?” I asked.

  “Probably a week,” she answered.

  “That is acceptable,” I chuckled. “Make it happen when we return to Nordar - 13 - a.”

  “Yes, my lord,” she replied.

  “Am I sitting in someone’s seat?” Aasne asked.

  “Yes,” I answered. “That is Eve’s.”

  “Ahhh. I can move if you--”

  “No,” I replied as I squeezed her hand again. “She would not have a problem with you sitting there while she was away.”

  “I am looking forward to meeting her, and your other three wives. Zea, Paula, and Kasta are their names?”

  “Yes,” I said. I wanted to explain to her that the relationship was a bit more complicated, and I didn’t know if Paula and Kasta were going to submit to me, but I didn’t feel like talking about it now.

  “I was told that I will need to be friends with Zea especially.”

  I chuckled as I turned to my wives. The silver-haired woman winked at me, but the Prime Valkyrie just nodded.

  Our conversation turned to silence, but I still held Aasne’s hand. I had taken a risk by giving her a choice, and I was a bit surprised that she had decided to submit to me. Her decision made the beast inside of my soul very happy, and I was having a hard time trying to move my thoughts away from enjoying the body of the beautiful freckled woman.

  “We are exiting warpdrive in half a minute,” Nikki said, and I pulled myself away from my thoughts.

  “Prepare for battle,” I said, and my three wives and I flipped up the small terminal screens under our armrests.

  Nikki began her countdown, and I took a deep breath as soon as she reached zero. I was confident that the two armadas would still be staring at each other across the space of Idonan’s home sector, but who knew what could have transpired in the thirty or so hours we had been gone.

  The screen cleared, and I let my breath release from my lungs when I saw that the ships were still in position, and there wasn’t a full scale war.

  “You admirals are on screen,” Madalena said as she touched the buttons on her terminal. Persephone’s screen instantly displayed a row of my admiral’s faces, and I gave them all a brief smile as I cleared my throat.

  “I have good news, friends,” I said. “I have returned with Aasne Vaish.”

  “That is good news, my lord,” Admiral Birger said as he bobbed his head. The rest of the admirals nodded.

  “We will meet with the ex-Idonan admirals in the next few hours and begin discussing the next phase of our quest.” I turned to Madalena. “Arrange a meeting on one of my carriers so that we can dock Persephone and the other admirals can take shuttles.”

  “I will arrange it,” my wife said.

  “Await the Prime Valkyrie’s instructions,” I said, and the admirals nodded before the screen went dark.

  “Route the communication to Admiral Kiuys,” I ordered, and Madalena nodded before she pressed a few buttons on her terminal. It took her about a minute to set up the screen, but we soon had all of Idonan’s admirals displayed on my screen. There were eight of them, and I was surprised at their range of age. One of the men actually looked as if he was fourteen years old, and he introduced himself as Unnie Gezalt.

  Then Aasne told the proud warriors that they were now part of the Vaish Blood Overlord Clan.

  Their reactions were mixed, but I was a bit surprised by how many of them seemed relieved. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been since the admirals who showed those emotions were the oldest of the group and must have known that they would lose any space war with my armada.

  “Who was privy to Tortiton’s plans with the Waymund?” I asked, all but one of the admirals seemed startled by my question.

  “I knew of it, my lord,” Kiuys said.

  “Explain it to everyone gathered,” I said.

  “King Toriton sought to cement an alliance with Waymund, so he offered Aasne as a wife to King Goki’s second eldest son.”

  “Impossible,” the youngest of the admirals said. “We have been at direct conflict with the horse since before I was born.”

  “Toriton knew that Vaish and Skyad were now one, and he figured that King Adam would come to us sooner or later with his teeth bared. An alliance with Waymund would give us additional vessels if we needed and possibly lead to better trade relations.” Kiuys nodded as she spoke, but her face was hard to read. I wasn’t quite sure if she agreed with the plan, but it didn’t matter now. These eight were now my new admirals, and I didn’t have Eve to tell me if they were loyal or not.

  I’d have to win them over the old fashioned way.

  “Admirals,” I began, and they all turned their eyes to me. “In the next few hours we will all meet on one of my carriers and discuss our future. But before we meet face to face, I want to make my intentions clear to you. It is my goal to unite the Nordar at any cost. There is a great evil in the galaxy. They are monstrous creatures that wish to consume all life and will never know satisfaction.”

  The eight of them learned a little forward in their chairs, and I guessed that their bridge crews were also listening to me talk.

  “Each clan has their strengths and their weaknesses, each clan can and will aid us against the Draugr, and each clan will focus on defending the galaxy. I understand that you can trace your family lines through
scores of proud Idonan warriors and artists, but at the base of that tree is the Nordar, and at the roots is humankind. The branches cannot thwart the roots or they will be cut and burned.”

  A few of the admirals nodded at my words, and I was surprised to see the young man Unnie bite his lip as if he was seriously considering my speech.

  “I do not care to take your positions from you, since I’m sure that Toriton has given you places in his navy that matched your skill. If anything, I need your help to manage this arm of my armada. Aasne will serve as your liaison and ensure that this part of the Vaish Blood Overlord Clan remains successful. When we meet, I will ask you each to swear loyalty to my queens and me.”

  The group of admirals nodded again, and I sensed some tension leave their faces.

  “Admiral Kiuys,” I said.

  “Yes, my lord,” she replied.

  “I need you to prepare a report about Tortiton’s planned trip to Dia-Prism 5. We need to know how many ships he planned on taking, what the procedure was going to be, who his contacts were, and everything else you know. You’ll be presenting your findings in front of my other six admirals, wives, and counsel. Then we will figure out a way to leverage this information against the Waymund.”

  “Yes, my lord,” she said. “I will have the information ready for you all.”

  “Good,” I said. “Prepare to meet me on my carrier. The Prime Valkyrie will communicate the location for you.” I nodded to Madalena, and she cut the communication.

  “I will route them to a false carrier first,” she said, “then they can shuttle over to our real meeting place.”

  “I do not think there is reason to do that,” Aasne said. “My admirals are loyal, and they must suspect that you are on-board this vessel because of our recent arrival.”

  “They might,” I said, “but all of our communications have run through our network and look like they are coming from other ships, and they won’t know for sure that I am on Persephone. If I tell them I will meet them in person on a carrier, then they might attempt an attack at that time to be certain I am dead.”

  “It is only a five minute inconvenience for your admirals, but it will keep our husband safer.” Sivaha had a dagger in her hand, and she used the point to file at her perfect looking nails.