The group quietly listened to her go into details since the walk was long to the heart of the icy city. “The bastard had a tracer on our ship, Papa. He put it on when we were docked on Verard trying to renew our galactic visa. Olly already removed it. He was rendered blind when Auntie’s blackout systems were in effect, but after my kidnapping is when Ten K successfully came out of the growth chamber. Chandler used the tracer painted on the hull to follow us to Drakken Prime and after Olly drilled a hole through the mountain and deactivated the windy city’s defenses Ten K was sent to capture the Core and succeeded without detection. Stole it about three weeks after we left and waited for an opportunity on Zerika, but was curious about Olly and me. He was strong enough to feel our power even when we block it. He believed Oliver was a credible threat to his ‘Father’ and took it upon himself to kill my idiot.
“Papa, this Ten K was brainwashed, but also highly trained in an even shorter time than Olly. Chandler pushed him ruthlessly, but also made it seem he loved him. Ten K had no interaction except with the mothers, Chandler’s mates. The one with canary yellow hair called Veronica, is a damn good psychologist. She trained his mind to be self-destructive in event of capture. And worse yet, they hardwired his brain to be incapable of following the rules of anyone he didn’t have an emotional connection to. He’s like a loyal dog. If they said not to tell anyone, he’d kill himself before revealing a thing. Chandler taught swordsmanship and Psionic usage too. It is why he fought like Olly.”
“So ever since the lad got the boot from the Elders, he’s planned revenge and funded secretive plans with the expressed purpose of starting a war with all Hunters.” Jake shook his large head. “Insanity to the very core.”
“Chandler adamantly believes Hunters are the cause for the continued Keptl attacks and aren’t doing enough to kill them all. Ten K’s memories are clear to me except with Olly’s puzzles. For some reason I didn’t get them, but he believes himself a revolutionist. By using the clones as Keptl fodder, no more humans need to fight and using modern technology he can make billions to set against them in short order.”
“The reason why you couldn’t hack the puzzle memories, Red, is because they are seared permanently in my mind. I can’t shed them, least not yet.” Oliver answered. “Memories I’ve noticed, tend to fade or aren’t as clear in long-term memory. The three parts I’ve got are clear as polished cut crystal still.”
“What do you mean by not yet?” She was curious.
“I think once I solve it, it’ll fade. It has taken up a great deal of my memory. About three percent. When it is solved my gut is telling me it will begin to fade like normal memories so I’ll need to act fast. My memory is as eidetic as yours, Captain, but not even you can remember every explicit detail of your life.”
“Small things, No, but any iota of importance I can recall quite vividly.”
“What I want to know is why Keptl spores?” Breena ventured into the conversation.
“Two purposes I suspect.” Renee replied with a toss of her fiery crimson locks as her cheeks and nose began turning a little pink. “Dependence for one. He had to keep up constant injections to halt the growth of infestation. Daily to be accurate. Able to teleport made it easy to return home after recon. He had no idea the serum was actually killing him. The other side of the coin is Ten K stored his energy in them like Olly and I do with our toys.” Her fingernail flicked the bracelet. “The infestation was in the last stage so he could hold and store all his energy like a Queen. It’s why he didn’t get winded after using such a tremendous amount. But there is one thing I neglected to share with everyone.”
“Don’t leave us in suspense.” Satellite chirped, perched on a ring over Stone’s left shoulder.
“Well…” She smiled after another long pause had had everyone leaning in and losing patience. “Ten K, as a test, was sent to a known Keptl overrun planet and naked at that. The advanced spores under the skin must have tricked the swarm to make them see him as one of their own. Not a single Keptl even snarled let alone attack as they normally would. If I can synthesize a pheromone I believe duplicates the same result then so long as a Queen isn’t looking we will have gained a new weapon. A masking solution to disguise humans so we can gain a new advantage.”
“Can you do that?” Breena asked in genuine surprise.
“I’ll not take that personally since you don’t know a damn thing about me.” Renee sent over a lovely wink. “This is what I do. I love biology and figuring things out. It’s why I saved a couple of Ten K’s spores and froze them for private study so I can find whatever it is that disguised him. Whether or not it’s a pheromone or some kind of subsonic or ultrasonic vibration that lets them communicate who is friend from foe, I don’t know right now. Searching for that answer is what makes it all fun. Just remember I’ve personally found cures for multiple diseases conventional medicine hasn’t discovered using my own body to create the cures and I also gave you the Solarian splice. It’s all me baby. Olly’s not the most dangerous person alive, I am. I can make poisons untraceable or cures from my own antibodies. I’m a walking synthesizer with a genetic IQ humans can’t quantify.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t Solarian women hardwired like you?”
“Far as I know, Huntress. It is my life regardless. Despite my hardwiring, I did it to follow Ma’s footsteps. I know I’d not be this good if I didn’t study my ass off even with my quirky brain.”
“Yer Ma would be proud, Lass.” Jake grabbed her shoulder affectionately without stopping. “What of the fighters and pilots you took care of while the lads fought the bastard hounding us?”
“On their way to Verard as we speak, Captain.” Visor chirped, perched too on a shoulder. “They’ll be tortured and interrogated along the way. As for the fighters, your loyal subjects and leading engineers are going over this new model. They are exceptionally advanced. Likely a Galicom funded, under the table program. The accountants must be really good to have not aroused suspicion with the open exchange of information laws.”
“We’ll get them too. This conspiracy will be put to an end. I’ll make sure those undermining get what’s coming. I may have no right, but what they are doing is beyond wrong.” Oliver vowed.
Renee wove her fingers in his large hand to show her support, but it was Stone who said “You have every right, Brother. You may not be exactly human, but you live and interact with us completely like any other person I’ve ever met. Without you we’d be dead and Chandler has the means and will to kill hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters. As far as I’m concerned you are just a really smart person with a gentle nature.”
“Except when that stick up his ass gets twisted when someone gets near the kid.”
“You know I cannot help it, Steven.”
“Just busting your balls, Brother.”
“If anything concerns my Match’s balls it’ll involve me.” Renee joked and it lightened the mood considerably as they came up upon the great ice pyramid. “I love the statues.” She noted as the literal ice sculptures were dressed in fur coats and varying cuts that promised warmth and class. “I choose… you.” She pointed and willed her armor to alter into the cinch waist heavy dress done completely white, her favorite color. A leather-like belt buckled around her round hips. Fur lined the bodice, shoulders, cuffs and hem of the dress with leggings underneath. She looked through Oliver’s chip and said “Classy, sexy and warm all at the same time. These women of ice sure knew how to keep warm and show off cleavage… Olly, look like that man, but no hat.”
His armor changed to a caped individual made into a cloak with a thick suit beneath just as they spotted Andrea bouncing around from place to place taking pictures of the artwork. Stephanie and Jacob sat over by a bench with all the gear. Andrea was a bundle of energy when facing something new. Ever since giving birth to a son, David, her energy returned to normal. She had the enhancement of ligament and Solarian and couple that with her Olympian gymnastic background a
nd she near succeeded in being everywhere at once.
“Thank the stars you’re back!” Jacob said, tired of watching Andrea going crazy around the city.
“Olly, open the place up, get the next piece and let’s go home to rest before heading back to the most humid planet I’ve ever been to.”
“Hello Quelette.” He greeted as the blonde interactive illusion appeared about the time when he and Renee were near the sealed front entrance to the pyramid castle.
“Master Void. Mistress.” She replied, inclining her head to both. “Thank you for saving my sister city.”
“Not over till we nab those really responsible.” Renee said as she laid a bare hand down next to his. The nano-wall rippled and everyone hurried inside to be caught breathless.
Unlike the other lost cities, this main hall wasn’t decorated with statues of individuals or couples locked in passionate embraces. Not wild looking or in simple gowns. The hall merely gently snowed. Great trees and painting of landscapes broke up the emptiness. The pillars still had winding staircases to the upper levels, but the lifelessness held a harsh beauty.
“I got it now.” Stephanie said quietly, but everyone had pointed ears and acute hearing. “Sorry.” She said to everyone taking it in. “I just realized what these people embodied. Wind were explorers. Terra were warrior caste. Water was life and birth. Fire is primordial change, but till now I didn’t realize why Ice loyal Solarians existed.
“It’s the emptiness. The harshest reality we all had to face. Death. The literal cold we feel when thinking about death. But they made it beautiful.”
“I see it too!” Andrea paused and lowered her crystal recorder. “But they didn’t embody death as much as accepted the reality. This must be for the really old Solarians.” She couldn’t help glancing in Oliver’s direction.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t like this place. If anything… I feel more drawn to Fire.”
“Does it have anything to do with me perhaps?” Renee played with a curly strand of vibrant crimson hair meaningfully.
“Perhaps, but it’s more like a feeling. Even though my memories were completely taken… I’m drawn to it over this place. It’s too cold and beautiful. I adapt and change constantly. This place doesn’t. I can feel it. Fire is where I belong had I lived with my people. I know that almost for a fact if Mantiv is anything like me.” He personally admitted.
“Then it is not just me then.” Renee shivered. “They have lovely clothing styles, but I’m feeling the creeps too. Go do your thing. I’m going home to find our daughter and sit with Sparky for awhile.” She kissed his shaven cheek and immediately vanished without any more warning.
“You guys know the drill. No tampering with anything or the defenses will kill you. I’ll disable them real quick and send word when it’s safe. Quelette, please lead me to your core.”
“This way, Master.” She turned and began to walk towards one of the pillars. It was disconcerting seeing someone, but not hear the snow crunch underfoot, hear fabric rubbing together and for someone like Oliver who relied on an acute sense of smell scenting nothing made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. A glance showed Jake Dorgen was following him. The Hunters would watch over his bride-to-be, sister-in-law and chief engineer recording visuals only of the hall.
Twenty minutes later and a long idle chat on various subjects the tall men came to the top floor of the ice fortress and walked a long hall for about two hundred meters lined with murals depicting vast lifelike landscapes to either side. Eventually the AI came to a stop and raised a hand to a seemingly unassuming painting of a mountain during an avalanche. Jake Dorgen removed a disc-like coin that pulsed with light and placed it on the ground in front of the program.
“See you in a little bit.”
“Aye, I’ll be checking out the royal bedchambers while ye do yer thing.”
Oliver laid a hand on the mountain and stepped through the wall to enter the core room. The city’s brain for all intense of purposes. The core was a large clear sphere made of some form of grown gemstone roughly two meters tall. Being completely clean wasn’t out of the ordinary after twenty five plus thousand years. To either side rested orbs with a barrel, weapons with a serious punch to defend the core. The only thing left in the square room was a large sculpted seat. A circular impression in the armrest designated for a Valek interface. He took a seat as Quelette reappeared by her unit.
“Begin destruction of all offensive technology beyond human advancement, but retain the same protocols as I did for Aquerril.” As he said it the tendril shot from his wrist and he was connected to the entire city.
Smoke rose from the drones to either side of the core and the blonde woman in thick clothes simply said “Successful.”
“Show part four of five of the puzzle left behind.”
Not much of a talker, Quelette activate the program and fragments of light appeared in front and moved fast and bright like streaks of light. Oliver’s mind though absorbed the broken letters of his people as it seared into his mind, filling more of the gap. It took minutes to absorb the influx and for a mind which processes at nanoseconds meant the information was vast.
Throbbing headaches were common after the download, but as he tried piecing the parts together he knew he still needed the final part to make any sense of what he was thinking of. Deep steady breaths soothed the throbbing temples. Then he tapped his ear’s communication crystal. “Captain, the city is yours. I’m going to bed.”
“Thank ye, Lad. Ye rest up. We’ll discuss future plans before ye leave.”
Oliver left, gathered the Pride and the large cubs around his ship and their personal ones called Sun Spots to fly home. Nova always rode behind in the same fighter as his master, filling the cushioned space while purring in satisfaction at today’s thrilling events.
Home being a gigantic sailboat just over ten kilometers long that sails the very stars themselves. He docked and instantly found his beloved already asleep with their tiny daughter clutched soundlessly in her breasts. Contentment filled him finding them safe and cuddled as loving mother and daughter. He smiled fondly and went to bed, hugging his family and kissing each without rousing either. His eyes closed, knowing neither parent had gotten much sleep recently. The download just made it easier to sleep for him.
Chapter 2
Springs in the bed screamed in protest and made the mattress shake, jerking Renee from a pleasant sleep. Sharp green eyes barely glimpsed a muscular male running from the room followed by the three male Ligers. Nova, Fluffy and Flurry. She named the other Ligers aside from Nova and always got ridiculed at her naming process. She dubbed her own Drake Sparky for how quickly he can make his body glow and his mate Rose for the pinkish coloring of her own scaly body. The only name she wasn’t made fun over was her daughter.
Renee smiled after touching Oliver’s mind to realize why he left bed so abruptly and it made her chuckle. She didn’t like how his too sensitive sniffer burns as if acid was sprayed up each nostril every time their child made a mess. Male Solarians and Ligers alike have olfactory sensors that are too sensitive to a babe’s waste. Females didn’t have such a problem.
Pulling the covers back Renee look down at the rapidly growing daughter Isabella and love warmed her naked breast. She remembered the easy birth not too long ago when Izzy came out no larger than the palm of a single hand and over the course of a couple weeks had grown larger than both palms. Renee noticed the subtle differences as only a fond mother could. Right now Isabella was softly squeaking her discomfort and Renee checked the diaper to find it was soiled and the culprit for Oliver’s abrupt departure. “You sure know how to clear your papa out of a room eh, Izzy? Lets clean you up and get you fat and happy.” She climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
Renee wiped her daughter clean before bathing her in powerful deodorizers safe for a newborn’s delicate skin so Oliver’s pain is less. During the bath she looked down and smiled. “Glad my nipple isn’t so
small anymore. Seems like as you grow my nipple goes back to normal. Oh I know… shhh. You’ll be dry in a moment sweetheart… there! All better.” Renee toweled her child off and placed the ravenous babe to her breast to supply a mother’s milk. Isabella suckled strongly, little arms kneading the breast for the sustenance her tiny body needed. Renee willed on warm clothes and added a wrap, like a cloth diagonally across her chest, so her daughter could be securely held and feast to her delight.
Leaving the bathroom, she found she wasn’t the only feeding mother as all the female Ligers had nursing cubs of their own for the first time in twenty five thousand years after her man because their master. The thing was, the cubs would soon be weaned. Renee had four more months left after reading the journal left behind by Queen Fru of the Wind.
She walked out of the new bedroom and straight into the spacious private hangar to find Oliver and the other three sitting by the secured Flare and the surrounding Sun Spots. He had apparently thrown on a pair of pants only. Bare feet and a naked torso exploding with muscle gave her libido a serious jolt and admiration for such a masculine form. She kind of missed him knowing right away she was horny and wet at a single sniff, but he forced himself to be as close to them as possible though his instinct to be near, but not so close, were at war and it hurt him.
Pointed ears quirked a little as his head turned away from petting the furry felines purring up a storm. Round ears followed as they all noticed her arrival. “I wish you’d let me numb your smell receptors, Olly.”
“It’s not too bad.” He lied and having a mental connection couldn’t hide the truth from her. He also felt her spiked irritation at the lie. “In an hour I’ll be back to normal and despite her odor, I need my nose. For me it’s like going blind is for you.”
“I could make you go blind and we’ll see about that.”
“Then I’ll look through my Pride’s eyes.” He bantered a quick comeback.
“Smartass.” Her scowl made him chuckle and she joined in. He spread his knees and she took the invitation to sit directly between the thick thighs to feel safe as his long arms wrapped around her middle. She noticed him peer over a shoulder and at her well endowed breasts and knew what he sought. She peeled the wrap back to expose her right bare breast and their suckling daughter to say “She’s getting stronger every day.”
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