Finally, from the other side of the fire there were three or four sharp cracks from the neural disruptors. One of the women around the fire screamed.
Katherine stood up, her hands on her hips and stared into the black night. “It’s about time you showed up. I was beginning to worry.” Her voice was calm and worry free.
Zed stepped into the firelight. “You were beginning to worry? We’ve been chasing that damned destroyer half way across the galaxy to find you.” He swept her into a passionate kiss, until she pushed him away.
“Watch the hugs Romeo. We’re with child, don’t forget.”
“Not bloody likely.” Around them other women were beginning to cry with joy, the mood even being picked up by the other non-Terran races. There was a wild shout, and Mike Flaherty had Alina raised above his head. She was trying, without much luck, to push him away. With his arm around Katherine, Zed turned to face the others standing around the fire. All the former captives were bedraggled and wan. Women outnumbered men by two to one. Malnutrition was evident in many, and their clothes were shredded. Some sported crude bandages. The eyes of those that regarded him, however, were bright. There was no reaction when he tried a sentence in Tildan, but when he switched to Eacrorth the group went wild, bombarding him with thousands of questions, until finally, laughing, he held up a hand. “Please, one at a time. Who is in charge here?” A silver haired man stood up, assisted by a young woman who was obviously his daughter.
“I am Visan Garax. I was a senator to the High Prelate.”
Zed gave him an acid look. “Yeah, I met the man. He didn’t want to accept my terms for the surrender of his planet. I threatened to incinerate what was left of his cities before he capitulated.”
Several people groaned. “What were your terms, if I might ask?” Visan asked in a shaky voice.
“I demanded a stop to your stupid war with the Tildan. I also cancelled your military budget, took ten percent for us and plowed the rest back into veterans’ programs and space research.”
“But…” Visan has a puzzled look on his face. “You made no other demands?”
“Nope.” Zed grinned.
“It won’t work without agreement by the Tildan than they…”
“Surrendered to me under the same terms a few weeks earlier.” Zed finished. “You and Tildan are no longer at war.” He turned and gave the stunned Kat a wink. “You might find this interesting. The planet of Tildan has a four to one ration of women to men. For some strange reason the planet of Eacrorth has a ration of four to one men to women. Eacrorth was pounded pretty badly by the Creednax before we destroyed them. Eacrorth could certainly use some Tildan nurses, wouldn’t you say?” The Eacrorth senator looked stunned. “Think about it.” Zed turned and looked at one of the few surviving Myrthraa, who was just beginning to twitch. “We’re also allies with Myrth, the world this idiot is from.” Zed gave the body a none-to-gentle push with his toe. The recipient opened his eyes. “You!!” Zed hissed in perfect Myrthraan. “You flea bitten idiot! Trying to give away my mate? I have half a mind to take you back to Myrth and leave you to the tender mercies of General T'nudluk. He owes me one or two favors… like saving his planet.”
That got the attention of the creature on the ground. “Nooo!” He jerked to his feet, and quailed at the sight of two neural disruptors pointed at his head. “Not General T'nudluk! He’ll cut my claws, shave my hair and leave me naked in the middle of the desert to roast.”
“You were going to give my mate over to be eaten.” Zed said coldly.
“We don’t know that. We…” Zed made a motion and a disruptor cracked. The Myrthraa fell at Zed’s feet.
“Tie him up.” He said with some disgust to Dimitri. “We’ll let T'nudluk deal with him. If we survive we’ll have the General send a police force to these worlds to see that interspecies peace is maintained.” He turned back to Visan Garax. “We can take you all home, eventually. The space will be a little cramped, and some may have to sleep on cots in the hangar, but we can do it.” Zed swallowed. “There’s just one little thing I have to do first.”
“And what might that be?” Visan asked. Behind him Zed could see Mike wincing. He knew what was coming.
“I have to destroy the Hiveworld, and the Creednax menace to this galaxy.”
Chapter 8
END GAME
LOLA was laughing.
Mike glared at him, before turning to Katherine. “Your husband just told the good Senator from Eacrorth that before he brings the senator home, he has to destroy the Hiveworld, and the Creednax menace to this galaxy, all by his onesies.”
“I didn’t say that!” Zed protested, as the Terran women he’d just rescued all took one step back, away from the obvious madman. That included Katherine.
“It’s the truth though, isn’t it?”
“Yeah but…” Zed had run out of arguments.
He turned to the uncertain crowd. “We can take a dozen a trip; we’ll take the Terrans first. We’ll be back to get you all. Move right along, or we’ll find the Creednax snapping at our heels.”
As they made their way through the woods Katherine stepped closer to him. “You’ve gotten harder, Zed.” She whispered, just a little sadly.
“You have selective memories, my dear.” He replied just as softly. “I was hard when we fought the Creednax the first time, and we lost all those people. I’ve fought more battles since you’ve been away. Many more people have died, and I lost the Rose of the Dawn… again.”
“Oh no!!” Katherine sounded shocked.
“We were all about to die when Cybele showed up with the firepower of Thal’ark Station to save the day. She also showed up with our old friend Dan Grinwell in this huge battleship the Yamato. What a monster that thing is.”
“If you lost the Rose of the Dawn, then what did you fly in to find me? You can’t have come all that way in a scout saucer.”
“Athena, Cybele and Boadicea, she’s the AI from Dan Grinwell’s ship, built me a new ship named the Belerophon. She’s much much smaller than the old Rose, but nearly as tough.”
“So, the Rose is finally gone.” Kat said with a little catch in her voice.
Zed grinned. “Not quite. We found your saucer. The CatTrace Ling had died, but three of her kittens survived. If you remember, the name of your saucer is the 7651K Rose of the Dawn. Since there are no other vessels of the same name, the primary name devolves to the scout saucer. The Rose still lives, my dear.” She’s a little battered and we had to do a planetside refit rather than a shipyard job, but she flies just fine. I flew her myself while LOLA flew the other saucer.”
“Yourself? The AI was toast and that’s why I couldn’t fly her. How did you manage that?”
Zed sighed. “It’s a long story, and the Rose of the Dawn wasn’t the only thing that got battered in the fighting. We can talk about it back in our quarters on the Belerophon.”
“You had better order a pot of coffee then, Zed Yates. I also want to know what you meant when you said you were going to destroy Hiveworld all by your onesies.”
He groaned to himself. Life had been so much simpler when he only had a war to fight and the fate of the galaxy to worry about. “If you would open the hatch please, LOLA.” A rectangle of dim light appeared before them, and the ramp flowed to the ground.
Katherine looked around as she entered and smiled. “It looks like the Rose.”
“Athena copied the pattern
and built the Belerophon to berth three of these. The hangar in the main ship isn’t even big enough for one scout, just a simple shuttle or two.”
“I hope that the new ship at least has a shower.” Zed saw her shudder. “I haven’t bathed for weeks.”
“So, that’s what the funny smell was.” He said with a straight face.
“Oh You!!” She drove an elbow into his ribs, and he let out a woof of surprise, and then began to laugh. She soon joined in. “You’ve changed in many ways Zed, but I think the old Zed I love is still buried deep down somewhere, under all the pain.”
“Oh, he’s still there, still kicking.” Zed smiled. “Have a seat.”
As she sat she ran her hand over the soft leather seat. “Nice. Leather seats. You must have sprung for the whole extras package.”
“You should see the chrome windshield wipers.” He stood aside as the others filed in. “Take the first seat you come to.” He said to the milling people. “LOLA will be piloting us, and she doesn’t need a seat.” Soon Mike came in, pulling up the rear and nodded to Zed. “LOLA, raise the ramp, shut the door and take us back to the Belerophon, if you please.”
“Yes Captain.” She said simply.
“You’ve been unusually quiet, LOLA.” Katherine commented gently. “I remember you as quite a chatterbox.”
“I didn’t want to pester you, as you and Zed became… reacquainted.”
Katherine’s face became thoughtful. “You’ve changed also. I feel like I’m talking to my sister, which is silly because I’ve never had a sister.”
“I’m honored you feel that way, Katherine. I would like to be your sister.”
Zed noticed the gleam in Kat’s green eyes and held his breath. He knew trouble was coming when he saw it. “So, tell me sister, what’s going on with you and Zed? What has changed so drastically?”
“I’m sorry Katherine, I’m going to be busy flying the ship. Perhaps we can continue this discussion at a later time.”
Kat rounded on Zed. “You taught her how to be evasive! She’s picking up your bad habits. The next thing you know she’ll be lying.”
Zed let an affronted look wash across his face. “LOLA. You wouldn’t lie, would you?”
“Of course not Zed.” LOLA replied in her best computer-like monotone. “I would never lie. I have not been programmed to lie.”
“See, Katherine. LOLA can’t lie.” He gave his wife a wide smile. Kat returned a flat, disbelieving look.
After a long boring exit from the atmosphere to avoid alerting the Creednax fleet, the Belerophon finally swam into view on the main screen. “She looks fast.” Katherine whispered, still refusing to let go of Zed’s arm.
“She and my former scout were the fastest ships we had.”
“Were?” Katherine picked up on the past tense.
“A Creednax battleship trashed the scout. The crew managed to stay alive until we rescued them from their lifepod.”
Kat frowned. “I didn’t think there was a lifeboat on a scout.”
“There isn’t.” He stopped for a moment as he watched the saucer slip into her waiting berth. “Good job LOLA.”
“Thank you Zed. Doctor Sutherland is waiting in a reception area to speak with and examine the women. Will you be going back for the refugees?”
Zed glanced over at Mike and Alina, who couldn’t have been pried apart with a shoehorn. “I think Dimitri and Larisa can handle things, don’t you?”
“I don’t think there’s much that Dimitri can’t handle, except maybe Larisa.” LOLA replied with a wry chuckle. “I’ll tell him the bad news.”
“Thank you.” Zed stood back as the refugees filed out. “After the doctor has spoken with you Kat, ask LOLA to show you to our quarters. I’ll have a glass of wine and a hot shower waiting for you.”
“Resorting to bribery now?” She grunted as she wedged herself out of the semi-reclining chair. “These things weren’t made for pregnant women.”
“I just thought I’d show my wife a little consideration, with all that she’s been through.” Zed wisely made no comment about the chair. He offered her his arm as they descended the ramp. “Welcome to the TFS Belerophon, Katherine.” Zed said formally.
Zed had a goblet of wine waiting for her when Katherine came out of the bathroom, a look of bliss on her face. “Ohhh, that was just divine. I was in there for a good half hour. I didn’t waste too much water, did I?”
LOLA replied before Zed had a chance. “The Captain’s wife has certain… liberties, Katherine. Extended showers in certain extenuating circumstances is one of those.”
“Thank you LOLA, and please call me Kat. Katherine is too formal.” She frowned down at the white towel she had wrapped around her bulging body. “Now for some clothes.”
“A kimono, perhaps?” LOLA suggested tactfully.
“Just the ticket.” Her body sparkled. “Well now… this is nice.” Kat reached down and touched the fine soft white fabric, with delicate embroideries of egrets on the wide sleeves and roses about the collar. “Real silk?” Her voice held a touch of awe.
“Nothing but the best.” Zed grinned, patting the couch beside him.
Katherine finished her wine in a swallow and sat, giving him a level and slightly wary look. “Helen Sutherland mentioned to me that you had changed. She wouldn’t say more than that. I think you had better tell me the whole story Zed, if we hope to continue our lives together.”
Zed thought for a moment. Thanks to his digital component, he had almost perfect recall of every event that had happened since his reconstruction. That might have been a good or bad thing. Events prior to that were a little hazy. He took a breath. “You remember the two Creednax fleets that were bearing down on Callidus? It was the reason we sent you and the other women away in the first place.”
She frowned. “Yes, I remember. They arrived shortly after we defeated the first Creednax fleet.”
“Well, we beat that combined fleet off, destroying them utterly. The problem was that it was all a trap. There was another fleet on the way composed solely of warships waiting to catch whoever tackled the previous fleets.” He swallowed. “It was sometime in the middle of the battle of the combined fleets that I was killed.”
Katherine blinked. “Would you say that again? I thought you said you were killed.”
“I was.” Zed looked at the coffee table, unable to go on as the perfectly recalled events unfolded in his mind.
At that point LOLA walked into the room and pulled up a convenient chair. “He was dead, Katherine.” She began bluntly, looking at the human woman. “Cooked through; about well-done I’d say. There wasn’t an intact strand of DNA left in his body. We rebuilt Zed from digital images and a snapshot of his soul taken milliseconds before he died. He is, or rather was the human component of our digital intelligence; for you see Zed really isn’t human anymore. Humans are the products of their species, of mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, back into antiquity. We, the Synthetic Intelligences are a product of human engineering back to the first caveman lighting the very first fire. Zed is our creation, if you will. The situation has come full circle, you might say.”
“That was the first time he died. In an engagement with the Creednax over the planet Eacrorth he was, for all practical purposes, killed again. Normal humans can’t function with a broken neck, but you can’t tell your husband a thing. He’s so stubborn. He was on the verge of the final death when we finally put our collective foot down and took him away. His body was in such bad shape it was simpler just to build h
im a new one.”
Katherine’s eyes were beginning to glaze. “Zed’s not human?”
LOLA laughed, guessing by intuition Katherine’s train of thought. “He’s human enough. You and Zed can still have children, although they may wind up looking like Zed if you are unlucky.” LOLA laughed at the comment and Katherine managed a weak smile. “Everything that makes Zed Zed is still there, only your husband is as much a part of the digital world now as the physical world. That is how he was able to fly the Rose all by himself. He could fly the Belerophon if he tried.” LOLA turned slowly and gave Zed a flat level look. “He wouldn’t do that, would he?”
Zed’s look was just as flat. “Not unless I had to, short stuff.”
Katherine poured herself another glass of wine, and looked slowly from LOLA to Zed. “There is another story here. I think that you’d better tell me that one too.”
LOLA was still glaring at Zed. “Your husband had a small nervous breakdown when we found your saucer. He came within a heartbeat of stealing the Belerophon and crashing it into the Creednax Hiveworld.” Kat stared at her husband, her wine forgotten. “He knew that it was a futile gesture, but he was past reasoning at that point. I had to call in assistance to stop him.”
...and they are us 3: HiveWorld Page 16