“Knight, quit killing my prisoners!”
“The Knight does not take Teloran prisoners,” the Morgana’s cold voice informed her, “and since the Telorans kill their own, there was nothing living in those pods. We are merely taking out the trash.”
“You don’t know that, Knight.”
“We have fought the Telorans when they tried to destroy Meligorn. They left no survivors for questioning—and neither do we.”
The comms went silent and Felicity sputtered into nothing. The Telorans had tried to take Meligorn? The…Telorans? As in the aliens had a name? And how the goddammed hell did the Morgana know that?
“Knight! Knight! Goddammit!”
None of her crew said a word and when she scanned the command center, they were all studiously attending to their boards. She looked at the screen as gunnery finally fired.
“They’re turning, ma’am.”
She glowered at the screen as the Ebon Knight flickered from one location to the next, jumped out of the path of a barrage of missiles, and moved in close.
“Somehow, I don’t think they stand a chance,” she replied grimly and resigned herself to watch as the Knight moved as though giving itself some space.
The Telorans altered course and increased power in a direct course toward the Knight.
“They’re trying to ram her?” she asked, and scans nodded.
“It looks like it.”
Any further comment was silenced when the enemy released a heavy barrage of fire at the two Navy vessels, whose crews showed no mercy. As the Telorans turned and raced toward the other ship, they fired.
Several of the salvos struck home as two large circles appeared on the Carolinus’s forward screen. The Ebon Knight held its place unwaveringly in the path of the attacking Teloran ships.
“What in all the hells is that?”
“Balls the size of Jupiter and two great big rings of fire?” the scan operator suggested, but no one laughed. They all stared at the growing circles of coruscating purple and blue fire as more appeared. When they finished forming, there were four.
Two of the enemy ships altered course to go over or under them and the rings remained steady. The other two aimed at the center of the rings and the Ebon Knight.
“What’s she doing?” Felicity murmured.
“Are you sure it’s her, ma’am?” her communications tech asked.
“Who else would it be? That’s magic. There ain’t no known sun in space can cause that kind of burn.”
“But—”
“The Morgana is the Federation Witch, Daimler. Purple and blue are her favorite colors and those things use both. These guys are toast.”
“But—”
“I tell you what. You guys demolish one of those ships and I’ll buy you all a beer when we hit port. If you miss, you all buy me one of the finest bottles of Dreth spirits I can find.”
“Those guys wouldn’t know fine if it bit them in the ass,”
“You haven’t been drinking in the right company.”
“And you have?”
“Are you gonna put your money where your mouth is or let the Witch have four easy kills?”
“Trembath, bring us round,” the gunnery commander ordered. “Give me one clear shot or you’ll pay my share of the captain’s bottle. Trust me, her tastes are expensive.”
The Star was already turning so she could fire a full broadside into the two Telorans fleeing her range. The enemy increased power and the rings moved.
Once the alien vessels had committed to a trajectory and come within two ship’s lengths, the magic circles advanced, each centered on one of the fleeing craft. The Star and the Carolinus struck their targets and fire flared around the Teloran hulls, but the ships held.
“They’re tougher than they look,” the Carolinus’s gunnery commander muttered. “Fire again!”
“Too late.” Felicity grinned as the circles suddenly dropped or rose so the two Telorans that tried to avoid them sailed through the center of each. As soon as they did, they vanished.
The Carolinus’s final barrage followed its target and also disappeared as it passed through the ring.
Dead quiet followed, broken only by a bewildered, “Where is it?” Four more magical rings appeared on the screens. These formed a square three ship’s lengths apart.
“Oh…oh, no. She wouldn’t…” the same voice whispered, but they were wrong.
The Morgan would, could, and did. As soon as the circles had formed, the Telorans’ bows reappeared and panic ensued. Each ship tried to avoid the others without the room to do it, and they came together hard and plowed into each other with the same impact they’d intended for the Knight.
They began to explode from the bows down and one of the ships suddenly bucked and lurched when its engines shattered.
“Score!” the gunnery commander shouted, and Felicity laughed.
“We’ll call it a draw,” she told him, “seeing as the front end was gone when you blew the back.”
“A very fair call, Captain,” he agreed and there was a touch of relief to his tones.
The gates faded and the Telorans burned and exploded, completely unaware of what was happening on the Ebon Knight’s Bridge. There, with the battle behind them, the crew turned its attention to the Morgana in their midst.
Stephanie’s eyes were as black as they ever were when the Morgana held sway, but that didn’t stop Vishlog from turning toward her. He saw the energy playing over her body and lifting her hair in an invisible breeze and only one word came to mind.
“Todd!” he shouted and moved closer. “Todd!”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she turned her head away from the viewscreen and looked toward him. “I am in control of the Morgana. I will not leave my parents childless.”
She gestured to the screen. “It is time to pull the knowledge together, to shape the future of those with power, and to stand ready to end the Telorans’ future. This will not be us defending Earth, but the Telorans coming to be judged.”
In the silence that greeted those words, she looked around the command center. “They will decide their future. First, they must be willing to beat their weapons into tools to grow their own food and build their own cities. Then, they must agree to cease working to kill others.”
The Morgana hadn’t faded, although a flicker of Stephanie lingered behind the cold, austere expression. She paused momentarily and shrugged.
“They will do that—or they can die.”
Creator Notes - Michael Anderle
September 24, 2019
The awesome feeling of fans.
Thank you for reading, reviewing, and supporting Witch of the Federation. Your support and all that you do for Stephanie, the team, the Melligorns, and the Dreth is VERY touching and appreciated.
And here we are, at the end of book 03 (books 07 and 08), with Federal Histories 04 (books 09, 10, 11) already underway. Right now, book 09 is finished, but 10 is started and running a bit…slow.
But we are getting there! So, RIGHT NOW, go push that button and PRE-ORDER STEPHANIE FOOOOURRRRRRR!
Wait…WAIT!
I have more notes… Once I finish, THEN go pre-order 04.
Uhhhh, I forgot what I was saying. (I’m typing these as my wife and I are watching the latest season of The Voice (1st show) with Kelly, Gwen, John, and Blake.)
OH, YEAH, MORGANNNNNAAAA!
I love her (the Morgana side, I’m talking about.) That person leaves no doubt that she is going to go to the mat, no matter what happens. There is just raw anger, pain, the need for justice, vengeance, and determination that her end is going to happen.
The problem is she has no restraint. Morgana is the definition of pyrrhic victory in a bottle of hot sauce.
Often, readers believe that we authors KNOW the end of our stories, but I really don’t know what’s going to happen with Stephanie and her team.
I created characters, not a story. Together, we are uncovering the future.
If you love it, go back and review book 01…THEN….
GO PRE-ORDER BOOK 04!
(or turn the page to see the non-final cover and yet another pre-order link…)
Witch Of The Federation IV
Available now for pre-order at Amazon
The Telorans have arrived, and people in the Federation are going to die.
Vishlog is working to understand the Morgana group, and just what he has “volunteered” to be part of.
Hopefully, he won't die before he learns.
The Witch of the Federation has matured, and she has learned how to be a bit more aggressive. She chooses to use this new strength...to go on a date.
Will Todd be able to handle the new Stephanie, or will even the Toddster succumb to fear when and if the Morgana reveals herself?
Stephanie and her team need a break, but the Federal Navy comes to Elizabeth, hat in hand, to ask for a favor.
Unfortunately, it requires the team to go active earlier than they should. Will they accept?
Will Stephanie's team be able to defend the Federation?
She is a MORGANA. There are no other alternatives, no matter the risk to her and her team.
Pre-order WITCH OF THE FEDERATION IV now at Amazon
Books by Michael Anderle
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Witch Of The Federation III (Federal Histories Book 3) Page 63