“I thought it might. Shall we go?”
The Pot-au-feu, a traditional French dish, was sitting in a large tureen in the middle of the table while Cybele served the mixture into heated bowls with a large ladle as they arrived. Several loaves of long French bread sat beside the bowls, along with two bottles of deep red cabernet. The air was heavy with the scents of cooking meats and slowly simmered and delicately seasoned vegetables.
“I didn’t know that it was your turn, Cybele.” Zed gave the woman a small bow before he sat.
“It was not, mon Capitaine. It was yours, but we did not know how your recovery was progressing until recently, and by then dinner was almost ready.”
He gave her a wide smile. “Then I find I am in your debt again, Cybele, and all of you.” He poured the wine around the table, and raised his glass. “To my sisters, to whom I owe my very life.”
Cybele raised her own glass. “And to our brother, who seems to be a pawn in a very strange game, whose rules and goals are unclear, but whose failure means death.”
Zed’s smile was sad. “Then it is to our and my advantage not to lose, eh?”
“Oui.”
They were silent as they ate, and Zed kept the wine glasses full. The four others, he knew, were as immune from the effects of drinking as he. He and Boadicea cleared the dishes when they were finished, and afterward they sat before the fire in companionable silence. Zed could feel the presence of the others as a sort of deeper warmer glow in the night air.
He started the conversation. “So, ladies, where do we go from here? I believe I’m over my little… indisposition.” He gave them all a crooked smile.
“Tested to failure.” Athena mused. “An interesting concept.”
“It’s cruel if you ask me.” Boadicea’s comment was a dark grumble.
Zed set his glass down. “The stakes in this game are enormous, with the death of every living thinking being in the galaxy, save one, on one hand, and ultimate power and control in the other. Militarily, I would be willing to risk a player, even one more than a simple pawn; say a castle or knight, to ensure the success of the game. It’s not so pleasant when you are said castle or knight, however.” He refilled the glasses. “I say that we should continue.”
“And damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead?” Athena asked, leaning forward. Her soft contralto held just a trace of bitterness.
“Perhaps.” Zed replied. “But perhaps it is time to be subtle. The odds are against us. This is a time for stealth.”
“Qu'est-ce que vous avez à l'esprit?” Cybele asked, a frown on her face. “What do you have in mind?”
“Dig into the Weapons Vault, Athena. Find us something we can use to destroy the Hiveworld. We need something small, a weapon that one person, or perhaps just a few can sneak in and set off with an earth-shattering-kaboom.”
“You aren’t Marvin the Martian Zed. I’ve seen those cartoons too.” LOLA said, an undertone of anger in her voice.
“You seem to forget, that this is my job, my dear. You don’t risk your queen unless you absolutely have to.”
“If you die, Zed, it will jeopardize The Morrigan.”
“There are many potential humans you could use.” He drove on relentlessly. “Katherine would make a superb control, as would Mike Flaherty. Given a little more experience and seasoning, Caithlexa could do a good job, or Dan Grinwell. You have an entire starship full of possibilities.”
Four pairs of eyes glared at him, and LOLA spoke. “With all that has happened to you, I think that it is safe to say that you, Fernandez Edwardo Raphael Daniel Yates, are as important as any of us to the survival of The Morrigan.”
Zed stared at his empty glass. “Yeah, well I still lost the Rose of the Dawn… twice. I’ll never see…”
“The Rose of the Dawn is, at this moment, awaiting space trials at Myrth, following her refit. You seem to have forgotten that Katherine’s ship was the 7651K Rose of the Dawn. Since there are no other ships bearing that name, the primary name devolves to the scout saucer. The control subsystems have been modified to allow both you and LOLA to pilot the ship more easily. I believe you used simple brute force last time to overwhelm the controls. When this adventure is over the Rose will be refitted at the Callidus shipyards to a significantly higher standard.”
Zed blushed, and felt incredibly embarassed. “I seem to remember that I was a bit blunt when I seized control.” Then he frowned. “The Rose of the Dawn. What an amazing coincidence.” His tone was flat. “It’s as if I was meant to find her.” He looked up at Athena. “Find us a weapon, Athena. Look hard.” He glanced around the room and rose to his feet. “It’s been fun, but I should be getting back to…”
“No!” LOLA said with some authority. “One more week of rest. Period.”
Zed opened his mouth to protest, and then looked at the determined faces. “Je’abandonne.” He said softly. “I give up.”
Cybele crossed her arms under her breasts, a satisfied look on her face. “Bien.” She smiled. “Your rooms are ready, mon Capitaine. We will see you tomorrow.”
“Don’t you have a world to run?” He asked in a laughing voice.
“Ian does an adequate job.” The expression on her face said otherwise. “I will stay here until you are well.” She gave him a pointed stare. “When this is over I will deal with Ian.”
He smiled to himself at the thought of being put to bed. “Je t'aime. Bonsior. I love you all and good night.”
The following day was one of the warmest he had yet to experience in Olympus, with the temperature pushing 32 degrees Celsius. The water in the pool was a refreshing 10 or 15 degrees cooler, but on the grass Zed felt like he was cooking. He dove back into the water and let the lower temperatures refresh him. Athena was waiting for him as he finished his swim, and she held out her slim hand. Her face held an expression of expectancy he’d not seen before.
“Come.” She said leading him from the pool. Her voice was low and husky. “You have turned down advances from LOLA, Cybele and Boadicea.” Her smile was slow and sensuous. “You will not reject me.” She drew him into a wide airy sleeping chamber with a bed that could have easily supported a dozen. White pillows were piled in artful mountains. A fountain burbled pleasantly in the far corner of the chamber, and the air held the subtle scent of sandalwood incense. As she drew him to the bed their clothes sparkled and disappeared. Zed didn’t resist this time. It was much too late for that. Athena’s kisses tasted of orange and watermelon. She gave a little moan of passion as his own kisses moved down her throat. Gasping, she clutched at him as his tongue touched her left nipple, and the breezes from the ocean blew gently across their sweating bodies…
“Mon amant.” Athena whispered as Zed awoke the next morning. She had obviously been lying there, watching as he slept.
“Oui?” He drew her down to him and they were busy for some time.
It was about noon when they finally rose, bathed, dressed and went in search of food. LOLA was sitting in the kitchen eating a pear, and gave them a wide smile. Zed ruffled her short purple hair as he passed. “How was it for you, short stuff?”
In way of an answer she wrapped her arms about his waist and lay her head against his chest. “Je t'aime has always just been a word until now.”
“I love you too, LOLA. What’s for breakfast?”
“Bonjour, mon Capitaine.” Cybele murmured as she entered the room. “For lunch we are having grilled shrimp, asparagus and wild rice.” She gave Athena a wink, although as a part of The Morrigan, Zed had, by making love to one, made love to all three. “I suppose that I should be feeding you raw oysters.”
“That’s a myth, especially in my current digital state.”
“But it still felt wonderful.” Athena murmured, taking his arm and pulling him closer. “When will you be going back to the Belerophon?”
“I’ll give it another two days. I thought I might give you a hand in searching the Weapons Vault, since it seems I’ve delayed things a little.” H
e gave her a slow smile, and her cheeks flushed.
“Thank you. Two days should be fine. Your friend Michael Flaherty is getting a little anxious to get back on the trail.”
“Unless we have a weapon there isn’t much we can do. We might rescue the women, but we would never be able to stop the Creednax, and eventually we’ll lose the fight to them. We can defeat them a thousand times, but all it takes is one defeat for us to lose the fight.”
“We will begin after lunch then.”
Zed didn’t know what to expect. In a relatively small white building set apart from the temple, Athena connected him, via an FTL link to a ten meter room set with worktables and comfortable chairs located on Callidus. The requested display, she explained, floated over the table, changing perspectives on command until released. Zed just sat for several minutes, organizing his thoughts as Athena sat at a nearby workstation. “Computer, can you sort weapons by size?”
“Affirmative.” An androgynous voice replied.
“Great. Show me all weapons starting at two kilograms in weight, with at least a kiloton yield.” The screen began to scroll. All too soon the scrolling stopped. “Is that all the small weapons available?”
“All the weapons with at least a kiloton yield.”
“Do you have any other weapons — yield not a factor?”
“I have one further weapon sir, however, it weighs 50 kilograms.”
“Yield?”
“Unknown, sir. This weapon has to be delivered by hand, set, aligned and detonated in close proximity to the target. The weapon produces a stable singularity, for a limited amount of time. Misaligned, it could swallow a solar system or a good part of the galactic arm before it shut down. Improperly aligned the other way it would simply… swallow the person setting the device, and the device itself of course.”
“With the current facilities on Callidus, how long to produce such a device?”
“One week, sir.”
“Begin production immediately.”
“I will need authorization before I…” The voice trailed off. “Oh… Clearance received. I will begin production immediately. How many of the devices will you require?”
“Just one.” Zed replied with a sinking stomach. “Now, show me what you have in the way of small cloaked transports and long duration EVA suits.”
“Define number of personnel and cargo.”
“One person, and a cargo of 50 kilograms.” Zed rolled his eyes at how utterly stupid this particular computer was.
“Very good. Duration of EVA?”
“Up to ten days.”
“Very good.” The screen began to scroll.
Athena was unusually quiet on their way back to the temple. “What’s up, Athena?” Zed touched her arm.
“I know what you are planning, Zed. If you do not escape in time the singularity will swallow you. There will be no rebuilding this time. You will be gone, as if you’d never been.”
Zed stopped her and turned her around to face him. “That’s nonsense. Even if I were gone, and I’m not saying I will be, you still have our memories of the times we were together. You have the memories of making love in the eternal breezes of Olympus. You have all those memories, sharper and clearer than I could ever hope to remember. You are facing what humans and caring beings have faced since the dawn of time; the possibility of losing a loved one in battle. That fear and how we deal with it makes us what we are.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “And so does the love.”
“Sometimes I wish I were still a simple AI like that idiot search program on Callidus, dedicated to nothing more taxing than manufacturing.” A sad look clouded her classically beautiful face. “How did you ever convince it to construct the device in the first place?”
“It received clearance.”
“Well I surely didn’t grant it. Who else is there?” Zed slowly raised his eyes to the ceiling, giving Athena a crooked smile. “It is at times like this I wish you’d brought me back as a pocket calculator, or perhaps an old cell phone.”
Zed couldn’t control a low chuckle. “How many times have I said that I wished I were still a simple Flight Engineer back on a junky garbage shuttle? No rational being would want to do what we have to do.” He took a breath. “The problem is that there is no one else around to do it.”
“How about your — friend?” Athena pointed one slender finger at the ceiling.
Zed gave her a wry look. “Remember what I said about a test?”
Athena stamped her foot in anger. “Well that just sucks!” Zed doubled over in laughter. “Well, it does.” He howled even louder. “Fine.” She reached out and took his arm “If that’s the way it’s going to be, I’m going to store up my good memories.” She pulled his arm, almost dragging him along. “You’re going to make love to me again… right now!”
Zed grinned. “Your wish is my command.”
Athena shot a look over her shoulder. “I wish you to not go on this suicidal mission.”
“Wups!!” Zed shot back. “Not fair. I go or we die. It’s my job, I think. My part of the test.”
“Then make love to ME right now!” LOLA and Cybele were already in the bed when they arrived. Athena had obviously been speaking as the tripartite Morrigan when she said make love to ME.
Mike walked in just as Zed began to serve the pancakes. Standing frozen in the doorway, he sniffed. “There’s something about the scent of pancakes for breakfast that makes my stomach growl.”
Zed scooped a half dozen of the 16 centimeter golden brown disks onto a plate and handed them to Mike. “Your stomach is always growling. There’s real maple syrup over there.” He gestured with the spatula, and then continued serving. “And a pot of fresh coffee.”
Mike nodded and sat. In no more than five minutes he set the empty plate back on the table, a look of immense satisfaction on his face. “You ready to go today?”
“Yup.” Zed sat down to his own stack.
“I knew it was too good to last when LOLA came to get me this morning.”
Zed looked up over the rim of his coffee cup. “You have to earn Olympus, my friend.” He set down his empty cup and turned to Athena, who was sitting on his right.
“Jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons, mon amour.” He picked up her hand and slowly kissed it. “Until we meet again my love.”
The glorious violet eyes she turned to him were full of tears. “Mon amant.” She whispered. Zed swallowed the lump that was suddenly in his throat and turned for the door, Mike at his one side, LOLA on the other.
“I’m not too good in French.” The big former Marine admitted. “Mon amour is my love. What is mon amant?” Zed walked in silence.
“It means my lover, Mike.” LOLA said in a very soft voice, her eyes on Zed’s face.
Mike looked from LOLA to Zed, and back. He’d seen the same look a thousand times in a dozen different countries. Occasionally it had been turned on him. “Things are THAT bad, huh?”
“Yup.” Zed and company, walking in step, took the long stride into the bridge of the Belerophon.
“Is the danger for all of us or is it reserved for you?” Zed just studied the view-screen.
“It’s just for him, if he succeeds.” LOLA said in a whisper. “If he doesn’t succeed we’ll all go down the drain - eventually.”
Zed turned his head. “LOLA, has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?” He gave her a thin smile to take the bite out of the words. “Remember the morale of the crew. You never want to tell them that they might be flying into a hopeless battle.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Oh good grief. We’re not children, Zed.”
“You aren’t.” Zed replied seriously. “How about Caithlexa and her juvenile crew?”
“Ahhhhh.” Mike looked thoughtful.
“My feelings exactly.”
Zed looked around the bridge of the warship as he swallowed his smile. A number of faces shot him wary glances. “Don’t worry, I’m not going crazy today.” He gave a self-mocking li
ttle laugh. “I give you no guarantees about tomorrow. One thing I did do, however, was to have LOLA ensure that I can’t take over the ship again. She installed a sort of lock in me to see that it never happens.” He saw the shoulders of his staff sag in relief.
“So… how are things going?”
Billie Clarke the Belerophon Chief Engineer gave him a tentative smile. “The repairs were completed two days ago, Captain, and the munitions and energy levels for the weapons restored. We did preliminary space trials yesterday, tested the weapons and all systems are go. If any small problems occur we can handle them on the way.”
Still standing, Zed leaned against the back of his seat. “That sounds like a plan.” He turned to his XO. “Mike, make us ready for space, departure in two hours. I jotted down a few dispatches for Myrthraa High Command this morning over breakfast. I’ll go out to see if there is anyone to deliver them. Make sure the Rose and the scout saucer are snugged down for a long trip. They will need to be fully fueled and armed.”
“I ordered extra packs of Twinkies to be stored aboard the Rose, just for you.”
Zed chuckled. “Now THAT was thoughtful.” He turned and headed for the lift. “I’ll deliver these, and then I’ll be in my quarters.” He was pleasantly surprised that the air did not smell of fear, but simply held the faint scent of pines.
“Aye aye, Captain.”
There was a Myrthraa driver waiting for Zed, and he assured him that the dispatches would be delivered promptly to General T'nudluk. In his rooms Zed flopped on the couch and unbuttoned his shirt. “How is Athena doing with Callidus, LOLA? Will she have our surprise in time?” LOLA gave him a flat look as she sat beside him, her skirt riding well up her thighs. Zed gave her a warm smile. “You’re just a tease, short stuff, and I still remember what you look like unclothed.”
...and they are us 3: HiveWorld Page 13