Feln was glad to see her back to her normal self. “He performed flawlessly. As to be expected with you in charge.”
“Heh, flattery will get you everywhere!”
A couple hours later, after taking a shuttle to the Uhlinder, Feln, Kesh, and Aaltskog found themselves in the much-talked-about meeting room at 1800 hours sharp. Feln had a feeling that the always punctual Kesh made sure that if he was ever going to be late, this would not be the time.
Feln had to admit the meeting room was pretty nice. Large paintings of various scenes in the Empire’s past were on the walls. The table in the center of the room was made of a deep red wood and the seats were large and cushy. Aaltskog looked even tinier than usual in her seat.
“Hey, you need a kiddy booster in your chair to see the grownups?” Feln asked.
“Pssh, shuddup.” Aaltskog growled.
“Well, thanks for wearing something…semi-appropriate at least.”
Her outfit was a white nurse’s tunic and miniskirt. As usual, the miniskirt was altered to be way too short. But by Aaltskog’s standards, her overall look was conservative, if still naughty.
“Where did you get that getup anyway?” he asked, actually curious. “And why?”
“I traded with a girl in sickbay some earrings for this. I had to get it altered because it was too big for me. But one of the guys in the hangar is pretty good at sewing. As for why, I dunno, it’s cute!”
“Some people get turned on by nurses. Are you hoping this admiral is like that?”
“Ew, no! Hey, are you turned on by nurses?”
“You know I’m not. The last thing I want to think about while making out is being stuck in a hospital…”
Admiral Lenz walked in, followed by Katashka, Valisia, and a terse looking young man who had an expression that made it clear he felt he had better things to do than be here.
Kesh, Feln, and Aaltskog stood and saluted. After returning their salutes, Lenz said, “Thank you for coming. I believe you’ve met Lieutenant Nonn and Lieutenant (jg) Nonn. This is Lieutenant Nonn’s Companion, Keesu.”
“Keith, sir,” Katashka corrected him.
“Er, yes, right,” Lenz said flustered before continuing under his breath, “But why is it spelled ‘Keesu’?”
Despite Lenz’s mutterings, the Nonn sisters and Keith saluted Feln and company.
“A pleasure,” said Kesh. “This is Captain Koenig’s Companion, Aaltskog.” Aaltskog gave a small wave and glanced at Keith, but he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.
“What a charming creature,” Lenz said with a smile. “And a nurse no less! Impressive.”
Feln could feel Aaltskog boring holes into his head, Don't even think about laughing! Still, he had to give Lenz credit; the admiral didn’t bat an eye at Aaltskog’s youthful appearance. It was a big Empire though, so who knew what Lenz had seen in his time?
Kesh, who didn’t seem to notice Aaltskog’s clothing until now, turned, “…nurse?”
Aaltskog cleared her throat, “Ahem, um, no, I’m sorry, Admiral sir. I’m not a nurse. I’m just playing dress up.”
Katashka nodded and grinned at Aaltskog while Valisia seemed to find something about the wood grain on the table endlessly fascinating.
“I…see.” Lenz said. “Well, at any rate, let’s get to it. As we all know all jump drives and replacement jump coils are dead. Therefore, we’re restricted to impulse travel at best. Visibility is practically nonexistent and thanks to debris and sensor interference, we can’t see the stars to ascertain our position from star charts. Communications are also severely limited. And lastly, there are hostile aliens in this system. Do you have anything to add?”
“Captain Koenig has determined that the enemy is using some manner of biotechnology,” Kesh said. “We have yet to see any crew on their ships— the ships seem to be alive. The insectoid creatures are actually organic, and not a type of piloted mecha.”
“Noted. Do we have any ideas on how to get out of this predicament?”
“None yet. We were thinking that if we perhaps tried to explore the system or found any surrounding systems, we might find something useful.”
Lenz considered for a moment before saying, “While a good suggestion, I think it would be safest if we stayed here at this planet. We don’t want to split the fleets in case anybody gets lost. We need to stay here, so that when help comes, it has a better chance of finding us all at once in orbit at this planet.”
“How do we know they’ll find this planet?” Feln asked.
“Well, we found it. Why not rescuers?”
“We got lucky. A rescue party could just as easily cruise by and not even see us or the planet. If it wasn’t for Lieutenant Nonn, we would have done the same thing.”
Lenz set his jaw and said, “Be that as it may, we will be staying here in the planet’s orbit until such time as I deem it no longer viable.”
Feln looked at Kesh, who turned to Lenz and said, “Admiral, it is my opinion that with the combined strength of our fleets, surely we could spare enough ships to explore the region and—”
“My mind is made up,” Lenz said.
Kesh stared at Lenz so long that even Feln started to grow uncomfortable. Lenz, not willing to meet Kesh’s gaze, murmured, “That is all. You are all dismissed.” Without waiting for the others to salute him, he got up and quickly left the room.
As everyone left in Lenz’s wake got up from their seats, Katashka shook her head. “Such a jackass. I refuse to spend another minute on this ship as long as that idiot is in charge.”
“What?” Valisia looked at Katashka incredulously. “What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. I’m not staying.” She looked at Kesh. “Sir, with your permission, I’d like to set up quarters on the Tannhauser.”
Kesh stayed silent for a moment before slowly saying, “While I’m not completely adverse to the idea, the Tannhauser only has facilities for one Hyper Battle Machine.”
“I know, sir. I’ll keep Ganxeiter on standby near the Tannhauser and when I need it, I’ll pop out in a shuttle and launch from there.”
“This seems less than ideal…”
“Yes, sir. But please, I’ve had quite enough of Admiral Lenz.”
Feln said, “Be careful, Admiral. She’s been known to use Imperial Prerogative.”
If Kesh had eyebrows, Feln got the distinct impression they would have raised. “Has she?”
Katashka tapped Feln’s arm playfully before resting her hand on his wrist and said, “Hey, I said it was only that one time!”
Aaltskog, who had been looking at Keith, turned her head back to Feln to see Katashka’s hand on his arm. A slight frown formed and her stance became more planted as if ready to get into a fight. Although he couldn’t see her eyes, Feln knew Aaltskog’s gaze was shooting daggers right into Katashka’s heart.
With a jolt, Katashka suddenly whirled on Aaltskog behind her as if expecting an attack and then stopped when she saw only the little Companion standing there. Aaltskog moved back ever so slightly, but held her ground.
“Oh, heh heh sorry…,” Katashka said, with a blush. She suddenly jerked her hand off Feln’s wrist in shock. “Oh!”
Kesh said, “Lieutenant Nonn, if you think you can make this work, I’ll allow it. Besides, who am I to stand in the way of Imperial Prerogative?”
Kesh was as dry as always, but Katashka laughed, as did Valisia. “He’s just like Mr. Hlik!” Valisia said. “I don’t know why people think Ssalss don’t have a sense of humor!”
“I know!” Katashka agreed. “That’s what I’ve been saying!”
Feln still couldn’t quite see this rousing sense of humor Katashka kept going on about, but the Nonn sisters seemed to have charmed Kesh, who said, “How soon will you be joining us, Lieutenant?”
“As soon as my Companion gets what he needs from the hangar and we get the stuff from our quarters. Keith, do you have anything you want to say?”
“Oh, you reme
mbered I exist,” Keith said. “Amazing.” With a dramatic sigh he continued, “I suppose I can have Ganxeiter ready for transfer within an hour. Still, this will make things hard. We’ll still have to return to the Uhlinder to recharge Ganxeiter’s weapons and energy after each mission. It will put a lot of undue strain on the hangar crews from both ships and significantly delay Ganxeiter’s launch time. In the state of war we’re currently in, that’s not really wise.
“And just leaving Ganxeiter docked next to the Tannhauser and having to go out in a spacesuit to get inside the cockpit to launch— that’s ridiculous. Ganxeiter will have to stay in a permanent state of stand-by out there, because I can think of far more interesting things to do in life than try to do the Awakening in space.”
Feln thought about Aaltskog’s smoking hands after waking Denxeiter and thought Keith likely had a point.
“Alright, alright,” Katashka said raising her own hands in surrender. “I get it, we’d better stay here.” She turned to Kesh. “Admiral, thanks for accepting my request so graciously, but I’m afraid that at this time I’ll have to rescind that request.”
Kesh nodded. “I understand. Your Companion is right and I feel content knowing there is another Space Knight here who accepts good advice from their Companion.”
At this, Aaltskog made a “Hmph” sound that Kesh thankfully ignored.
He turned to Feln and Aaltskog. “Let us take our leave. Our fleets may have to stay here for now, but I want to be sure we’re completely ready when another attack is certain to come.”
“Yes sir,” Feln said and Aaltskog nodded before latching on to Feln’s arm in an overly showy way while pointedly looking at Katashka.
Katashka blinked and then said, “Excuse me sir, but even though I won’t be transferring, I’d still like to come along back to the Tannhauser with you. If you don’t mind, that is. I’ve never been on a Carthage-class assault carrier before and would like to take a tour. I can catch another shuttle back here afterward.” At this, Keith rolled his eyes and Aaltskog made a tiny growl.
Kesh paused and said, “I don’t see why not. Captain Koenig can show you around, I’m sure.”
“Wonderful!” Katashka put her arm in Kesh’s and said, “Lead on, sir!”
“Hey, you know old ‘stick in the mud’ won’t like this,” Valisia said.
“Oh, Keith doesn’t like anything!” Katashka said. At this, Keith made a disgusted shooing motion at her.
“I don’t mean Keith! I’m talking about Admiral Lenz!”
“Oh… Well, the difference between Keith and Lenz is that at least Keith occasionally says something of value.”
“Thanks for that.” Keith groaned.
“Besides, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see me go for a while,” Katashka said.
“Well, you’re probably right.”
“I know I am.”
“Okay, whatever. Let me know when you’re back.”
“Will do!” Katashka turned back to Kesh and pulled closer to him, “As I said, lead on, dear sir!”
Kesh dipped his head in agreement and left the room followed by Feln with a growling Aaltskog glued to his arm.
Chapter Seven
Feln and Katashka were standing in the lower hangar of the Tannhauser watching the Aldens being serviced. Crews of service personnel scurried over and around the robots as they made repairs, adjustments, and completed various other tasks.
“Valisia would love this,” Katashka said. “It’s so nice and cozy here only having to worry about one wing each of robots and planes. It gets pretty crazy on the Uhlinder with that mass of people.”
“I can imagine.” Feln looked around. “You know I’ve never really spent much time here since my hangar’s above this one, but this is a pretty interesting place. Still not sure if I can call it ‘cozy’…”
“Spend some time over on that flying city I’m stuck on and you’ll see.”
“Yeah, probably.” Feln looked over at Katashka. “By the way, are you really interested in this ship or was that just something to charm the admiral?”
She grinned. “A little of both. Val’s the one who’s really into nitty gritty mecha talk. She’s always wanted to be a pilot or mechanic or something involving machines. She probably has the Tannhauser’s plans memorized. Me, my childhood career goals bounced back and forth between pop star and fashion designer. I think the Blessing was wasted on me. Val should have gotten it.”
“I know what you mean. It’s a heavy thing to have happen so early in life. The next thing you know, you’ve gotta decide whether to become a Space Knight or go to a facility. I always wanted to do something involving water. I don’t know what. A fisherman maybe. It’s been fifteen years since I was Blessed, but I still think about it. Maybe if I don’t get killed and am actually able to retire, I’ll move to some little shack by the ocean and spend the rest of my life there.”
“That sounds really nice actually.” They were both quiet and she watched the hangar crew some more before asking, “Hey, do you have a lounge here?”
“A lounge? Whoa, fancy! Do you?”
“Four.”
“Damn!”
“What can I say, they knew how to build ships back then.”
“Nah, the Tann might be a little bare on luxuries, but she’s a pretty nice ship. Maybe not a five star hotel, but a sleepy little mom and pop place.”
“Yes, I understand. I see it. I wasn’t putting your ship down. After all, I said it was cozy.”
“True. And while we don’t have a lounge, our galley has a couple little corner tables that can be kinda nice.”
“Sounds good, lets go.”
As they were leaving the hangar from the opposite end they came in, a vibration could be felt under their feet.
“What’s that?” Katashka stopped.
“Huh? You knew this was a Carthage-class ship but didn’t know it has a Wave Blaster mounted under the hull?”
“I have no idea how I knew it was a Carthage-class. I think it was a lucky guess. Again, this is Valisia’s thing.”
“Okay, well, there you go. Wave Blaster. Basically a cannon that fires a beam that travels a few hundred feet in front of the ship then scatters into a bunch of smaller beams for an area effect shot. Kinda like a delayed action beam shotgun. Since this ship is built to be able to engage some targets directly, the Wave Blaster lets us blow a hole in enemy defenses, launch fighters or a Hyper Battle Machine into the gap, and withdraw while the fighters do their thing.
“That vibration is its containment field. It’s on all the time just in case it has a sudden malfunction and explodes. The blast would takeout the entire ship and anything close.”
“Gotcha. I’ll remember to tell Val, but I’m sure she’ll already know.”
As they left the hangar and walked down a hallway, Katashka looked around. Seeing they were alone, she suddenly pulled Feln into a side hallway and into a small storage room.
“What’re you—” Feln began but stopped when Katashka unzipped his pants and squatted on the floor in front of him.
Feln, who had been in an almost constant state of arousal since first encountering Katashka was immediately ready. She took him into her mouth while cupping him below and bobbed her head back and forth, sucking hard. He grabbed the back of her head with both hands and thrust in faster than she could move her head. Realizing that her own movements where throwing off his rhythm, she stopped and simply sucked, letting him use her head and mouth as he wanted while he pulled her down hard and plowed deep into her throat. In what seemed like mere moments, he exploded into the back of her throat, his cum running down while she hungrily gulped. It was all over so fast, Feln was left in a daze.
Katashka stood up and wiped her pouty lips before saying, “Okay, now that that’s out of the way, lets get to the galley.”
Feln, still in a daze could only say, “What…what was that?”
“I sucked your cock and swallowed your cum.”
“You know damn
well what I mean.”
She sighed. “Yeah. But I think you know why I did it too. Come on, let’s sit down at the galley.”
“I’m not sure I can do that just yet…”
“Oh, don’t worry. I can most certainly take care of any other needs you may have. But I think we need to talk somewhere in public first, so you know what’s going on. It’s my ethical duty as a Space Knight.”
“As a Space Knight? What?”
“Come on, let’s go!”
After staggering along in a haze, Feln managed to lead Katashka to the galley. She pulled him into a corner table as far from any other crew as possible and sat across from him. Something in her attitude had changed and she suddenly seemed incredibly businesslike.
“Okay,” she began, “in case you haven’t figured it out, Val and I are Wayhadi.”
“Wayhadi… yeah… I mean, I figured by your skin tone and accent you were from somewhere on the home world. You’re obviously human, but the hair color kept throwing me off.”
“It’s natural.”
“Yeah, I thought so after seeing Valisia’s hair.”
“Alright, so do you know anything about Wayhad?”
“Just that it was the first of the old magic Wystran countries conquered by the Empire in the Great Wystran War about 600 years ago.”
“Well, not ‘conquered’ exactly. Once the Francescans executed the puppet ruler put in by the Corellans, Wayhad joined the Empire pretty much of its own accord. So anyway, Wayhad was considered a magic nation, but it never had full wizards and other similar magic users…like a bunch of the other magic countries. Wayhad was mostly good at building magic weapons and charms and stuff like that. Maybe that’s why it was so easy to join the Empire— we were considered hardly better than ‘mundanes’.”
Feln’s eyes widened in shock over the old slur magic Wystrans used to call those without magic. Before the young Emperor Gustav Francesca II used technology to conquer the magic nations once and for all, magic Wystrans had lorded over those without magic for eons— in a particularly dark period of Wystran history, they had even enslaved non-magic Wystrans for being somehow “lesser” beings. Magic Wystrans had thus always been called “True Wystrans”, while non-magic Wystrans were called “Lesser Wystrans”, or worse, “Mundanes”.
Francescan War Chronicles 1: Space Knight Denxeiter Page 8