Sean tried to get Michael to talk during the thirty-six hour trip to the Etruscan system, but about twelve hours into the journey it was apparent that Michael wasn’t in the mood to discuss anything, and especially not Maria.
It was hard to decide what Michael was pissed off about most, the fact that Maria didn’t even bother to try to crash the salvage operation, or that he had to leave without knowing where she was and what she was up to.
"This love thing...it really sucks, huh?"
"What?" Michael looked at his friend and frowned at being pulled from his own thoughts.
"Being in love...it sucks."
Michael just grunted. Being in love was inconvenient at the worst of times, but remembering the last few times with Maria...how she woke him that morning, and even how she invaded his space...it was hard to hate something that gave him a sense of belonging.
"It’s tolerable at times."
"Maybe you’ll get over it soon."
Michael was amazed at the sudden stab that remark caused in his chest. Get over it? Get over Maria? All he knew was that someday, one day soon, she was going to step into a machine called the Granilith and she would be gone. Somehow knowing this made it worse. Max didn’t know in advance he was going to lose Serena, not until the moment he actually did. But Michael didn’t have that luxury. He wasn’t looking at an endless road, but rather a road with a definite end.
"Yeah...maybe I’ll get over it." Michael went quiet again. Sean finally gave up and went in the back compartment to get some sleep.
Several hours later Michael called, "Sean, we’re almost to the Etruscan star system. Can you get the sensors online?"
Sean came forward and took the co-pilot’s seat. The navigator was already plotting their entry into the system and out of the slip stream. Sean pushed his sensors to the max, which was beyond their normal capacity. Maria had helped him tweak them a few weeks back.
As soon as they emerged, Sean began scanning the field. This operation would require them to set down on the Etruscan’s ruling planet of Zion and discuss terms and sign contracts. But once they entered the system, Sean immediately searched the Nebula for their salvage. It was always best to have an idea of the complexity involved so the proper fee could be charged.
"Michael, we’ve got a problem."
Michael turned in his seat. "Tell me."
"The Nebula is a Class Four One with an ionic displacement field. There are active ionic showers, and I am locating a ship trapped in the center of the field."
"That must be the salvage. How big? Can we pull it free, or are we going to need to dock and evacuate the crew and cargo?"
Sean looked at Michael, the worry plain on his face. "It’s a full brig ship riding adrift." Sean double checked his sensors. "Michael, there’re no life signs."
"The crew’s dead?"
"I don’t think so. When Maria tweaked our sensors, it made it easy for us to scan internal areas of ships. Michael, it’s on automatic pilot. It’s a dummy ship, a decoy."
Michael looked at him sharply. "Fuck! Full sweeping scan! They were expecting the Shiva, not just the Vishnu. They’re out there, and they’re waiting for the rest of us to catch up."
Michael took his controls off automatic approach to the planet of Zion, and quickly raised all his shields to maximum. Arming his weapons array, he called to the back for his men to arm the aft gunneries.
"Strap it in boys, looks like an ambush." Michael swiveled around to his navigator. "Plot me a slip stream out of here. Fast!"
"Michael, too late. They must have read our weapons and shields coming online. They’re powering up."
"Who? Who’s powering up?"
Michael followed Sean’s view. A full fleet of Imperial cruisers. "Fuck me!" Michael took pilot control and employed diversion tactics, staying clear of any larger ship’s tractor beams. "Sean, tell me something good. We’re not lasting long in this." Michael looked back at his navigator trying to get them a plotted course. "Chas, today would be a good time to jump out of here."
"Working on it, Commander."
"Work faster!" Michael cussed as he avoided oncoming cannon fire. "That good news would be appreciated, Sean."
"Maria tweaked our shields and weapons as well?"
"Dammit, Sean, I said something good."
Sean looked out the viewer and checked his sensors. "Too late. First battalion of fighters coming in. We’re toast."
"Not yet, and not before we take some with us."
Michael piloted the ship through the worst of the attacking fighters, his gunners taking out as many ships as possible. Sean targeted the larger ships' forward gunnery arrays to take them out as they passed. The shields were holding, but they took full hits to the port nasails, and their environmental dampers were offline.
"Sean, I lost an engine."
"Direct hit to the coolant tank, I can’t repair it."
"Sean, I need that engine. I can’t jump into a slip stream without it." They took another hit and Sean slammed forward and then to the side directly, into Michael with their heads hitting hard."
"Shit, get off me! Get me my engines back!"
"I can’t. The forward shovels are toast, ballast is gone, and the inertial dampening field is going." Sean rotated in his seat checking his control panels trying to control a fire in the front impulse engine. "The shields are holding, but another direct hit to port, and they’re gone."
Michael looked at Sean. "Transmit a distress warning to Shiva. Word is, 'We’re gone; she is not to pursue'."
"Communications are down, and they are blocking all transmissions."
Michael’s jaw clenched. His eyes narrowed as he took out more of the smaller fighters. Lining up his run, he slipped between them drawing the fire power of the larger Imperial cruisers to take out their own ships. Using Maria’s method of letting the stronger opponent use their own strength against themselves, he almost decimated the attacking battalion.
But there were more.
Sean was impressed, but the odds were too steep. "Michael, don’t be stupid. What are you planning?"
Michael just shrugged. "I’m thinking today's a good day to die as any, and I’m taking some of those sons-of-bitches with me."
Sean read over Michael’s console and noticed him targeting one of the large Imperial Cruisers. They were lining up for a dead man’s run with direct impact.
"Michael, we’ll never penetrate their forward shields. It’s suicide."
"We’ll penetrate if we flood the compartment with antimatter before impact." Michael looked at him. "We take out as many as possible so Shiva doesn’t land in the middle of a firefight."
Sean looked at him as if he was insane. That would cause a cascading reaction that would not only blow the Imperial cruiser, but many of the ones around it.
"You’re a crazy bastard."
"I am." Michael began the run by clearing the road along the way, taking out smaller ships, but sustaining massive damage. Max. Maria.
"Michael wait! I’ve got increased fire power coming over us fast!"
"Another fighter battalion?"
"Negative. They’re not targeting us. They’re taking out the surrounding fighters."
They watched as a full spread of torpedoes fired over them, straight for the Imperial cruiser they were targeting.
"Those torpedoes will never penetrate the shields." Michael held his course.
"Michael! Power back! They penetrated!" The full spread torpedoes went through the larger Imperial cruiser’s shields as if they didn’t even exist.
Michael quickly changed course, and tried to distance himself from the larger craft before it exploded, taking everything with it. His inertial dampers were gone, and the final ballast was blown to hell.
"Sean, sound for impact. I’ve got a dead stick. We’re going in." Michael couldn’t see the ship that had come to their assistance. The engines were roaring as he tried to hold the ship steady, but it was in gimbal lock, as the shakes and shimmies increased. "What are my shields like?"
"Gone before we clear the upper atmosphere. We’ll go in burning." Both men looked at each other and braced themselves. Before they went down, they saw another explosion as another cruiser was taken out.
~~~
"Helmsman, set a course, full speed." Max rushed to his chair in the Bridge. The entire flight deck was in chaos as all stations were manned. "Battle stations. How soon can we make the Etruscan system?"
"With full engines through a slip stream, earliest is eighteen hours, Cap." Sam turned in his seat. "It’s dangerous. If we deviate in the stream for even a moment, we’ll be pulverize."
"Do it." Max cussed a full stream of vitriol. "Batten down the stations! Full alert! They must have entered an ambush. All hands to battle stations, and running lights only."
Alex entered the Bridge and took the science station. Looking at Max, the two men understood much. It had to be Khivar, and if it was, he would need a full fleet to board Shiva.
"Did Michael send anymore information, Max?" Alex asked quietly.
Max just shook his head no. "It wasn’t Michael. It was a witness to the Vishnu going down."
"Any coordinates where they went down?"
"Zion. Location unknown. I hope it was the capital city. Those bastards will pay for their part in this."
Alex didn’t say anything. Max was feeling the separation from his twin, and killing an Attilaan twin was a serious offense.
"I’m sure Michael is okay."
"He better be." Max didn’t mention that he couldn’t feel his bond to his twin. With the distance separating them that wasn’t surprising, but it was still no comfort.
"Max, you should go sleep while you can."
"I’ll sleep when I get my brother back, or when I remove any and all persons responsible for his death."
Alex didn’t say anything else. Attilaans were warlike by nature, and blood feuds were what raced in their veins like passion. If it was war that Khivar wanted, it what he was going to get in full spades.
~~~
Michael regained consciousness to the sound of rushing in his ears, and a splitting headache. It took him a few moments to orient himself and realize that the rushing was blood streaming down his face. He had a scalp wound and it was bleeding like a bitch.
Shaking his head to try to restore his normal vision, he looked over at Sean who was still out. Sean had a large gash across his forehead, and his left arm was at an alarming angle.
"Sean? Come on buddy...stop sleeping, you lazy bitch."
"I hate you..." Michael just smiled at his friend’s voice, but the slurring of his speech worried him.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw Chas. He had taken a piece of shrapnel in the chest. Reaching over in pain, Michael closed his eyes. Leaving the flight deck, he entered the forward compartment. Some of his team were already waking and helping others.
"Jonesy, what’s the situation?"
The large dark man looked at Michael with bloodshot eyes, and just shook his head. "Ten dead and six wounded."
"Make that eleven. Chas didn’t make it. Take Reis to get the wounded out and collect all ordinance."
"Aye, Commander." Out of a crew of twenty-seven, he had eleven dead and seven wounded counting Sean. That left only nine men able to fight including himself, and Michael couldn’t move his right arm without almost passing out from the pain. He still had double vision and a rushing sensation in his ears that wouldn’t stop.
They set up a defensive perimeter, but they needed to move away from the wreckage. It would be the first place the Imperials would come. Michael had one of the men strap his right arm in a sling, and then reconnoitered to surrounding grounds trying to find a defensible area.
They collected water, supplies, additional live rounds and laser rifles. The area was a dense forest with minimum visibility - hardly an ideal area to defend.
Michael returned to camp, and sat next to Sean who was sweating. His arm wasn’t just broken, it was a compound fracture that broke through the skin. They had covered it as best they could, but Sean needed medical attention soon, as did his other men.
"I found a defensible cave, but it is five clicks to the north. There is no way to move all of you at once, and I’ll not leave any behind. Three of you won’t make the move."
"Leave us and go."
Michael took a drink of water, and tried to ignore his increasing headache. "Shut up Sean, or I’ll beat you bloody myself."
"Michael, save those that can be saved." Sean was having a hard time breathing. He didn’t want to mention the rib that seemed determined to puncture his lung, so he remained silent. "Shiva won’t be able to punch it even in slip stream under eighteen to twenty hours max."
"She’ll be here."
"I know." Sean breathed in a hushing breath. "Look, if I don’t..."
Michael just swore and interrupted him. "Dammit, Sean. I told you to cut out the dying shit!"
Sean finally held his tongue. Michael didn’t look that great either. He was better than most, but even Sean in his state could see that the man had a concussion and his right shoulder was fucked.
"So this 'love' thing. Does it really feel that terrible?"
Michael closed his eyes and put his head back. He was on sentry duty in an hour. Letting himself think of Maria, he softly answered Sean, "It’s...I don’t know. Confusing. But it makes me care about things, about her...and about making it home."
Sean was silent for a moment, thoughtful. "That must be nice. I can’t remember the last time I cared about anything, or even home."
Michael just passed the water to his friend, but Sean didn’t take it. He was unconscious again. Michael didn’t sleep. He just kept watch over his friend.
"Commander, we’ve got movement coming from the North."
"Full spread. Weapons on kill. I’ll circle to the left, you cover the right. Leave three to protect the wounded."
Michael moved as fast and quietly as he could through the brush, but his arm was hampering him. Pausing and listening, he heard the movement again. It was in front of him and to the right. Anticipating the position of the intruder by dead reckoning, he aimed and waited for the next movement.
When the movement came it wasn’t where he expected it to be. It was directly behind him. Swinging quickly, his gun was to the forehead of his attacker, as was hers to his.
"God help me, Michael...if you shoot me, I won't ever sleep with you again! And forget about anything else!"
"Maria." Michael slumped back and dropped his arm.
"Miss me?"
Michael's only response was to cuss.
~~~
Maria scanned the wounded, and paid special attention to Sean. She had brought as many supplies as she could carry from her own ship.
"I sent a communication to Shiva," she told Michael as she ran a medical scanner over Sean, gazing at him in concern. "Internal bleeding. Compound fracture, concussion, fractured rib and a punctured lung."
Michael was digging in her pack. "It was you that took out the Imperial cruiser?"
"Yeah...abandoned partner to the rescue." Maria said dryly.
"I thought I told you to stay put."
"You know, could you just be a little more ungrateful, or more of an asshole? I didn’t like you out here alone getting into trouble. You do do that, you know."
"I get..." Michael just closed his mouth.
"I found the Vishnu. She went down hard. I spent a little time wiping away your tracks and building a false trail. They'll circle back around soon when the false trail ends." Maria leaned in and kissed Sean on his forehead. "I’m sorry I didn’t get here before you took so much damage. For a second there, I thought you were starting a suicide run."
"Shocking how it can look in a battle." Michael said dryly.
"Hmm..." Maria ran her scanner over him. "Your right shoulder is dislocated. Your thick head took a bad bump, and that scalp laceration needs to be closed."
"I’m fine."
Maria just looked at him with disbelief and concern. "Either way, I can’t fix you right now. We need to move to a better location."
"I know, but there is no moving some of them, not the distance we need to go."
"I’ve got a cave..."
"Five clicks to the north. Yeah, spotted it myself."
"That’s where I set down. It’s got a clean water supply as well."
Michael looked at her, sitting down hard. He was tired. "You might notice it's too far for us to travel and transport everyone."
"No, it’s not. I’ll open a distortion field. It will be as simple as taking a few steps."
Michael looked at her, not sure he was understanding what she was saying. "The thing that Alex was doing?"
"Yeah. I can do it on a world in limited space. Anything larger, and it’s difficult. For that I would need help in the form of a machine such as my ship or the Granilith."
Michael took in what she was saying. "Then why the hell didn’t you open one when we were trapped on the Saratoga freezing our asses off?"
Maria just scowled at him. "If you remember, first I was half frozen and my brain doesn’t work in the cold, and I was also without air."
Michael conceded the point, but just barely. It wasn’t a good idea to give Maria too much room. She was able to squirm out of a lot.
"Okay, whatever. Just open this stupid thing and let's get everyone undercover."
They quickly fixed everything for transport including the wounded. Maria would have to make two trips. She opened the first field and most of the wounded were taken through. Going back, they collected the last of the supplies and weapons, along with the remaining wounded.
Moving inside the cave, Maria tossed Jonesy some emitters.
"Set these up around the opening to the cave - both sides. They’re a security field. I use them when I camp on planets with large wildlife. It keeps you from being eaten while you’re sleeping."
Jonesy smiled at her. "Yes, Princess." Michael just growled at Maria’s latest conquest.
"Neat little thing those emitters, Maria. They should keep the Imperials out."
Maria looked down at the now awake Sean. "They will, but it's false hope. They might not be able to enter and kill us, but they can just target this hillside and bring the mountain down on us in a rush of stone."
Sean looked up at the ceiling of the cavern. She was right. The shield kept their area safe from invasion, but not from a cave-in.
"Great. So what do you suggest, Princess?" Sean asked, ignoring Michael who was looking paler as every moment passed.
"That we go out and hunt them down before they hunt us. You Attilaans know how to hunt, don’t you?" Maria teased.
"Aye, that we do."
"Good. But first I need to do some repairs on the Commander. That shoulder needs to be reset."
Maria reached down and kissed Sean gently on the lips. "Don’t go anywhere, sweetie, and ignore the Bellowing Bitching Bear."
Maria went over to a resting Michael who had silently watched her interact with Sean. He was quiet. The pain was starting to really take its toll, but his vision had finally cleared. Now he was only seeing doubles and not sets of doubles.
"Sean?"
Maria knelt down beside him. "He needs more medical care than I can give him. I stabilized his arm, and sealed the gash on his head, but the internal bleeding is going to take Kyle’s special touch."
"Did you give him something for the pain?"
"Yeah. But my stuff and yours is dwindling fast." Maria took his head and looked at the scalp wound. "This isn’t too bad. Scalp wounds bleed like crazy, but it’s not serious."
She quickly cleaned and sealed it to keep infection and dirt out. Kyle would need to finish it later.
"Maria."
"Michael?"
Michael said softly, "I’m glad you’re here."
She looked down at him with a softness entering her eyes as she searched his face for humor or sarcasm. Leaning down, she kissed him lightly on the lips, avoiding his tongue. They needed to finish this first.
"You ready to set your shoulder?"
Michael groaned. "Do I have a choice?" She just shook her head slowly. "Then do it."
Pushing his shoulder firmly against a wall, she added her weight to the front of his shoulder and pushed hard. Michael actually shouted a nice plethora of obscenities that had Sean chuckling. Maria felt the shoulder move back in place.
"It’s going to continue to hurt, but you should be able to use it now. When you don’t need it, I want you to rest it in a sling." Maria quickly immobilized his arm in a sling.
"Take it off me. I need the arm until we can be rescued."
Maria took his face in her hands and kissed him. "You scared me, Commander. For a moment back there, I was afraid you were going to be gone for all time, heading for that damn cruiser."
Michael started to say something smart mouthed, but stopped. His eyes met hers, and suddenly all those off-handed remarks were gone - meaningless under the power of her regard.
Michael couldn’t break her stare. She pulled him close and as each part of her touched him, the heat spread and created a cascade effect that he could feel everywhere. Michael felt the creeping stain of red moving up his neck as his body felt like it was steaming. Neither of them could control the desire. His ever-present erection was painful against the restrictive cloth. A kind of madness overtook them, and there was no concept of prudence.
She placed a hand on either side of his face and turned his head so her lips had access to his. Michael relaxed and let her have the lead, refusing to even pretend to resist as she deepened the kiss. Her tongue slid into his mouth, and he felt another wave of desire rush from their mouths, down his neck and settling into the most appropriate places on his body.
Michael broke the kiss and moved his head to her neck. They were both panting now and all he could think of was that there was nothing to stop them. He couldn't imagine what their combined body temperature was at that moment, but it had to be somewhere between hell and a nuclear meltdown.
"You know, there are wounded people watching you two. Think you could wait until you’re alone? Not that I mind watching because watching is fine with me, but..."
"Shut up, Sean." Michael said in a husky voice.
Maria laughed softly against Michael's neck as she heard Sean’s singsong voice bitching in the background.
"Next time, I get the girl. Does Sean ever get the girl, all soft and concerned, kissing him, sleeping with him? No! No, I say! All Sean gets is some quick fuck in a back room and a nasty gash about the head."
They purposely ignored him as he continued to bitch.
~~~
Isabel watched him quietly for a moment. He was alone in the forward observation deck watching the colorful array of the slip stream rush by. Statues had more life to them. They spoke of living and hope, a time trapped in a moment, but Max was just silent and cold.
"How much longer until we're there?"
"Six more hours."
"You haven’t slept." Isabel moved towards him and handed him a cup of coffee.
"Drink this. You look cold."
Max took the drink and sipped it without really looking at her. Staring outside, he closed his eyes and tried to reach his brother, to establish any contact to tell him that they were coming.
"I’m fine."
She shouldn't have come. Isabel sighed to herself. It was obvious that he was avoiding her, avoiding coming in contact with her that was too close, and therefore unsafe.
"What’s the sigh for?"
"You. Me. I don’t know..." Isabel went to stand next to him, careful not to touch him or demand anything. "At times I trust no one but you, and other times I wonder why? You’re nothing but a stranger to me."
"Yes."
"I don’t know about your past, hardly make a mark on your present and the future is very doubtful."
"Lady Isabel," Max looked at her, and saw her frown at that. "Isabel...I’m sorry. This is not the best of times, and I know that I’m sending you mixed messages. Believe me when I say that that was never my intention."
"It's fine." She knew a brush off when it came. It wasn’t hard to recognize that he didn’t want her.
"I’m not explaining myself."
"No, I think I'm the one not explaining myself."
She reached for his face, and Max couldn’t stop his eyes from closing reflexively. He wanted her badly, but he couldn't act on it this time, or any time. He wouldn't. It scared him too much that he would lose himself in her - not just physically, but emotionally. That was something he had sworn never to do again. Never again.
There was a foreign feeling of desire that building in him. It tingled at the back of his neck and caused his stomach to flutter. Max opened his eyes in confusion and Isabel's softer hazel eyes had turned dark. Oh God, he needed someone to stop him! Max helplessly watched his arms move and before he realized what he was doing, he had her face cupped in his hands.
She felt soft and his fingertips moved over her face feeling her but they seemed disembodied. He held them away from her skin and looked at them. The sensation of roughness passed over each finger but he couldn’t see anything touching them. Then he looked at Isabel and saw her arm moving. Her own fingers were stroking his face, and Max realized he was feeling the sensation of his own skin on his fingertips.
This can't be.
"Close your eyes, Max and just let it happen."
"I can’t." Max moved away from her, and left the room.
Isabel watched him go, and rubbed her arms as if she were chilled.
~~~
Maria moved swiftly through the trees, then stopping to pause and listen. They were on her for the last six clicks or so. Pausing and changing direction, she waited for them to catch up. Moving with intent and purpose, she left the trail and moved on, keeping them just behind her.
Ducking under an overhang, she straightened on the other side when an arm wrapped around her midriff and pulled her back. Michael. Wasn’t hard to know him anywhere.
"This is a stupid plan," he whispered. Maria just rolled her eyes. His favorite thing, dissing her plans. "How many?"
"Six, maybe seven, coming fast on my tail."
They moved undercover, and Michael made a gesture in the dark that his team read. In silence, they waited to spring the trap. The small group of Imperial troops came under the overhang and spread out, looking for her lost trail. And within moments, they were taken out by Michael and the others.
"Jonesy, toss them with the others. Make sure they’re dead."
"Aye, Commander."
Maria stretched catlike, and smiled at him. "I’ll be back soon."
Michael hooked her around the waist again and stopped her from leaving. "Where are you going?"
"To round us up some more Imperials."
Michael looked at his men and gestured for them to search the area. Maria had run through the wooded area for almost a mile, and she wasn’t even breathing hard. Every time she went out and lured another small group of Imperials into their ambush she was taking a chance, but she was the only one without an injury and she was fleet of foot. They had already taken out three patrols, and Michael was worried that she was becoming too self-assured.
"Michael, there were six active patrols. We took out three. Three more and then we can rest."
"A battle cruiser holds a full complement of foot soldiers, Maria. We take out a few men here and there, they send more."
"If they have them. I left their last battle cruiser severely damaged. You took out two battalions of fighters before going down. Their operating systems must be totally trashed, and with full repair teams. What soldiers they have left were sent down to check for survivors. A few hostages would be welcomed when Shiva arrives in the next six hours or so."
Michael held her arm firmly. "You’re not listening to me. Every time you do this, you increase your chances of making a mistake. They carry thousands of troops on the cruiser. We’re taking them out only six at a time."
"I know. I’ll go get us some more." Maria broke free and suddenly was gone. Michael swore under his breath and kicked at a large rock near him. Normally his men would have hunted, but they couldn’t leave their wounded unguarded, and too many of them had taken injuries. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Maria, he did. He trusted her to get her ass in trouble.
Maria hooked a new search party. This one tracked her for over half an hour before she turned them towards Michael and the others. It felt wrong. This one anticipated her moves and followed too closely. She altered course again to add a sense of random fleeing to her pattern. Pausing in one place she felt a presence behind her. Moving fast through the brush, she didn’t even falter or pause. Stopping to look behind her would be a mistake. Tearing through the underbrush, she went under the overhang. Michael’s arm came out and pulled her up into his hidden place.
"What is it?"
Maria placed a finger on his mouth to silence him. The hunter was too close. Michael stilled and waited, cocking his head to the side as he listened. One lone hunter who had pulled away from his team. He was able to track and keep up with Maria without her pausing to let her pursuer catch up.
He was the real thing. A real hunter.
The man entered the enclave with caution, lifting his head as if he were smelling her scent. He turned towards their hidden place, but before he could find them Michael was on him. Maria for once stayed out of the way, but she drew her gun and was targeting Michael’s opponent trying to keep Michael out of her sights.
Finally subduing the man, Michael was breathing hard, and his arm hurt even more. Breathing in deep gasps, he felt like vomiting. Looking down at the tattoos on the man’s arm and taking in his physical appearance, Michael let up a little.
"Michael."
"Rafe." The two men stared at each other for a long beat. "Your parents?"
"They are well."
"Good." Michael broke the man’s neck. Rising from the body, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He gestured for Jonesy to remove the man as Maria came to stand next to him.
"That's enough for tonight. The rest of his party will be here soon."
"We can take care of it, Commander." Michael nodded tiredly.
"Last prey. Finish them, and then spread out in sentry. Rotating shifts, every two hours." Michael’s headache was coming back. He rubbed his forehead.
The large dark man looked at Michael and frowned. "I’ll take first rotation with half the men. You should rest, Michael. I’ll wake you in three."
Michael nodded. "Three. No later."
"Aye, Commander." Michael grabbed Maria’s hand and dragged her with him. Jonesy nodded to her with a smile, "Princess." And then he melted into the darkness.
Maria kept looking back as Michael pulled her with him towards the cave.
"You knew him?" she asked about the man that Michael killed.
"Yes."
Maria frowned at his quick response, and the lack of more information. "He was good. Much better than the others."
Michael just nodded. "He would be. He was my cousin."
Maria went quietly and followed him the rest of the way to the cave. His cousin. His people were enslaved by Khivar and forced to serve in Khivar’s military. Maria wondered how many Attilaans had died in battle the day before.
When they came to the cave, Michael motioned for the guard inside to lower the force field. Maria came up behind him and wrapped an arm around his waist resting her head against his back.
As soon as they entered the cave, Maria went to check on Sean and the others. Two more had died, and Sean was now the one in the most critical condition. Maria didn’t like his color, and he was covered in sweat. His breathing was raspy and coming in pants.
"Sean?"
He opened his eyes, and tried to smile at her. For the first time since she met him he didn’t have a twinkle of humor in his eyes.
"How did the hunt go?"
"It went." Maria looked at his arm and winced. Giving him another injection for pain, she watched Michael talking to a guard. "He had to kill his cousin."
Sean just closed his eyes, and softly asked, "Which one?"
"One called Rafe. He was good."
"He was. He was a littermate." Sean said with a thickening in his voice.
"Littermate?"
"We're raised and trained with our cousins, siblings and allied families in groups of common age. Rafe was born a year before Michael and Max, and he was bonded to my sister, Janna."
"I’m sorry." Sean just shrugged. There was life, and this was what it was. Michael would feel it more. He and Rafe used to gang up against Max and Sean, and the four of them were inseparable as boys.
"Princess. Did you decide that the Big Nasty One is too boorish and thus your place is with me?" His voice was low and dry.
"Absolutely. I was just using him to make you jealous."
"It worked." Sean said with a quick laugh, and then he coughed. "I want to try this 'love' thing. I've always been a sucker for pain."
Maria brushed the hair from his forehead as he went back to sleep. Looking up worriedly she met Michael’s eyes from where he stood over them, watching his best friend.
"Two others died?" Maria nodded. That made a total of thirteen.
"Michael, let me take Sean on my ship to Shiva."
"I can’t. The Shiva is in slip stream. There is no way for you to rendezvous with her until she leaves it, and then she’ll have that Imperial cruiser to worry about. While engaged in battle her shields will be at maximum, and you won’t be able to dock. You’d be a target."
"The Zephyr can transverse shields."
Michael reached down and helped her up from where she was kneeling next to Sean. Taking her to a dark corner he had set up for sleep, he sat down and took off his boots. Maria joined him and removed her own, sliding beneath the warming cloth next to him.
"How? How can your ship do that?"
"Her reflective shielding is reflective because it harmonically modulates. It reads the shield harmonic and mimics it. That's part of its invisibility."
Michael was thoughtful, but he couldn’t see sending her up there in the middle of a battle. "And your torpedoes? They penetrated the Imperial ship’s shields with no problem."
"They are the same technology. Everything in this universe emits a harmonic, a variance. All the basic technology stems from it, from scans to shields. The trick to overcome is letting your weapon or whatever be the mirror image, the exact replica, for then it can’t distinguish between itself and you."
Michael yawned and held her close, closing his eyes. "Someday when we have time, you’ll have to show Sean and me your systems."
Maria looked up at his tired face as he slipped into sleep. He and Sean. How easily he refused to let Sean go - just as easily as he had broken his cousin’s neck. Attilaans were a confusing people.
~~~
"Commander." Michael slowly woke up to shaking of his shoulder and Jonesy calling to him. "Commander, Shiva has broken slip stream."
Michael sat up and looked beside him. Maria was gone. "How long..."
"The Princess said they just arrived." Michael snarled.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Six hours, Sir."
"I told you to wake me in three."
"I know, Sir. I tried. The Princess said to let you sleep, and..."
Michael got up and glared at the man for his increasing loyalty to the Princess and his insubordination. Under his breath he breathed his anger in a mantra of the Princess, the Princess, and the Princess. He went to find the woman herself.
It wasn’t hard. She was standing just outside the cave giving orders. "Maria."
She looked at him as she sent another guard off. "You look better."
"You look like you need a beating." Michael said easily.
"Don’t be that way, and don’t blame Jonesy. He tried to wake you, he really did. But you just turned over and ignored him. I finally got up and told him to let you sleep. You obviously needed it."
"Maria..."
"The Shiva has entered the system."
"Are you in contact with them?"
"No, but I left my long range sensors on in my ship, and they alerted me when Shiva came out of the stream."
Michael saw his mean rushing around. "What are you doing?"
"I’m getting ready to take off to rejoin the Shiva."
Michael swore. "The hell you are!"
Maria just took his face in her hands. "Let me take Sean. He won’t survive much longer without medical treatment. You can hold the cave with your men until I can tell Max where you are."
"Maria, we talked about this."
"Then you take my ship." Maria looked at him. "Take my ship, and take Sean."
Michael shook his head no. "I’m not leaving you here. None of you."
Maria shook her head. "I can’t take any more. No more death, Michael. You made the decision to fight, and you killed your cousin. Now make the decision to live and save Sean’s life."
"Maria..."
"Take my ship and go!"
Michael looked at her darkly and in anger, then he turned and went back to the cave. They loaded Sean in Maria’s ship as carefully as possible. Once Michael was in the pilot seat, Maria climbed the ladder to the cockpit.
"She has about half her torpedo complement left. The shield generator took some damage, but it's still working. Don’t overcompensate to the right. I took a hit to the left ballast struts, so she's pulling. Just let her bring to the wind, her generative power is at maximum. Push hard and lay in steady trim, she’ll get you home in no time."
Michael looked at all the control panels as Maria pointed them out. He had figured most of them out the last time he piloted her ship. Looking at her, they shared a long silent stare.
"Maria." She dropped from the ship, and he watched her disappear into the brush.
Jonesy climbed up to help him fasten the hatch.
"Jonesy..."
"I’ll watch over her. She’ll be okay. Just get Sean home." Michael nodded, and looked at his Lieutenant. "I’ll be back."
The man dropped from the ship and backed off as Michael began lift off. The last thing he saw before leaving the surface was Maria high on a hill watching him, and then suddenly she was gone.
~~~
Max rushed onto the Bridge and took his command chair. Alex joined him at the science station. They were on final countdown to exit the slip stream.
"Mark, in four, three, two, one..."
Max moved his chair as the helmsman counted off their jump. "Shields to maximum. What we looking at, Alex?"
"One large Imperial cruiser, and lots of...oh damn!"
"Full view screen." Max slowly stood from his chair as the screen filled with the debris. The Imperial cruiser was still operational, but it had sustained heavy damage with fires still burning. Six of its support freighters were still with it, but they too had suffered damage. It was the debris field. A fleet of Imperial battleships had been laid to waste.
"Captain, I am counting three Imperial cruisers gone, seven support ships and smaller debris from what looks like two battalions of fighter craft wasting in the field."
Max just whistled under his breath. "Hate it when Michael gets pissed."
Sam looked up from his sensors. "Captain, the cruiser is coming around. They are hailing us."
"Open a channel."
"This is the Imperial Cruiser, Sihvaka. By command of the Royal Emperor, I am ordering you to power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded."
Max stood and moved forward. "This is a protected ship of the Eminent. By what command do you think to board my ship?"
"By the order of Genetic testing and purity. All your domain and hatches are to be scanned. You will prepare to be boarded, or we will be forced to use harsh means."
"No one boards my ship."
"This is an act of treason against the Imperial Federation. You are encroaching on Imperial space without authorization."
"We hold license to salvage, and this system contracted a salvage. We are in keeping with the rules and stipulations of contract that gives us the right to enter this space. By what right do you have to ambush and down one of my salvage ships?"
"You will stand down and prepare to be boarded."
"The hell I will!" Max took a stronger stance. "Weapons, full spread torpedoes. Target the main cruiser, and fire at will!"
"Aye, Captain." Max watched as the view screen closed on the Fleet Commander’s face and reverted to the star field.
"Running speed, Sam. Bring her about and buddy us up against the Nemo class ketch. She’s shimming and her systems are down. We’ll use her as cover. All small craft fighters to the bays...prepare for take off and engagement."
Alex smiled, "Fighters coming in, two battalions."
"About time. Time to fight. All pilots to small fighters. Order is to deploy at will. Order full gunnery to battlements, and arm the forward photon array. I’ll not be happy gentlemen, until I can have a cruiser for lunch."
"Max, I have found the wreckage on the surface. I have got Imperial troops flooding the area looking for survivors." Alex said quietly.
Max shut his eyes for a moment searching for his brother. Smiling to himself, he sat back in his chair. "Michael is on his way up. I can feel him."
"I do not have anything on the sensors." Alex denied.
"Mr. Liander, full view and bring us about. If we can’t see him on sensors that can only mean one thing...Maria’s ship." Max watched the battle as his smaller fighter planes engaged the Imperial fighters. "Let's take out the big cruiser. Sam, line us up for a scrapping run, pattern delta omega charley."
"Aye, Cap."
"Cap, we’re being hailed."
"The battle cruiser?"
"No sir, another craft coming fast off our portside."
Michael. "Open a channel."
"Shiva, this is the Zephyr requesting permission to dock." Max smiled at his brother’s voice.
"Sorry, little brother. Can’t lower the shields. Take a flanking position to our wake, and we’ll pick you up after we finish these few ships."
"The Zephyr can transverse the shields."
Max turned in his seat and looked at Alex, his eyebrow lifting. Anterraan technology was still a mystery. Alex just shrugged.
"Then get your ass on board!"
"Alert medical, I’m coming in hot, and I need full assistance. Sean is threatening to meet us in Valhalla. He’s been chatting up a Valkyrie since I left planetside trying to get her to take her clothes off."
"Understood." Max hailed Sickbay. "Kyle..."
"I heard. I’m on my way!"
Michael was out of the ship in no time flat, shouting for a raised platform. He sighed his relief when Kyle and his medical team came onto the flight deck.
"Michael! You look like shit!"
"That’s only because you haven’t seen Sean yet." Michael jumped down and allowed Kyle and his people to get to Sean.
"He has a compound fracture, concussion, and internal bleeding."
Kyle scanned Sean and nodded. He could feel it, and he could feel Sean’s life slipping away.
"We need to move him now." Kyle grabbed an end of the stretcher. "Michael, help us."
They rushed Sean to the medical bay, where Kyle ran another scan on him. Sensing Michael’s move to leave, Kyle told him to stay put.
"Don’t even think about it. I don’t have time to squabble with you, but you’re not leaving until I can look at you."
"There’s a fight going on, Kyle."
"There’s a fight going on in here. Take a damn seat, and that is an order, Commander." He nodded at his assistant to scan and take care of Michael.
Looking at his other assistant. "Prep him for surgery. The arm will have to wait. Start full IV fluids, and increase his pain medication." Kyle turned to look at Michael, gesturing his assistant away so he could finish.
"How’s he going to be?"
"It doesn’t look good, but Sean is tough. He’s only slept with half the despicable species in this universe. He’s not ready to go."
"I need to go, Kyle." Michael watched in surprise as a silent Lonnie entered the room carrying a tray and supplies for Kyle.
"In a moment. Your shoulder was dislocated." Lonnie was passing Kyle instruments to repair the wound on Michael’s head.
"Maria fixed it." Kyle just made a humming noise under his breath. "It hurt like a bitch."
Lonnie looked at Michael and quietly asked, "Is Maria alright?" Michael turned to look at the young woman, and she stepped back in fear, clutching her hands to front tight. His eyes were dark, violent, and angry.
Kyle fixed the scalp wound and quickly scanned Michael for concussion. "Was it Maria that cleaned and sealed this wound?"
"Yeah. She was pretty adamant, unrelenting and basically a royal Princess pain in my ass."
"She a helpful little wench, that’s for sure. You’re a lucky man."
Michael didn’t comment. "Kyle, I left her down there. I need to go."
"How many fingers you seeing?"
"Four."
"Michael there was only two."
Michael held up his hand. "How many fingers you see."
Kyle finished the procedure and stepped back. "Go."
By the time Michael entered the Bridge the battle was underway. The front view screen held witness to a support ship taking a full hit and exploding under the impact.
Max just nodded to his brother as he came to stand next to his chair."
"Systems report." Max asked one of his men moving in his chair.
"Weapons control sustained a hit in the last run, Cap, and front lasers are offline."
"Get them back up. Switch to photon torpedoes, and tell gunnery to charge up all phaser banks. We’ll go to blasters if we have to."
"Cap, we have breach in deck five, subsection six. The deck has been cleared, but power couldn’t be rerouted."
"Understood. Do what you can."
Alex nodded at Michael. "Max, there is fighting on the surface. It looks like the Imperial troops are pushing forward."
Max looked at Michael and frowned. His brother’s jaw was clenched so hard it looked like it was going to break. Max worked to send support to their people on the planet.
"Inform Gold leader to break off from attack and divert to planetside. I want our people to have some backup. We’ll need full ground cover. Alert med-evac teams to the landing bay prepared for dust off. Have the Rama in slip ready when we have a break in the fighting. Launch at first opportunity."
"Aye, Cap."
"Max." Michael said with more than a request in his voice. Max looked at his brother and nodded. Michael was off the Bridge without another moment passing. Max wasn’t surprised that Michael made quick time back to his ship, but Max expected him to join the Rama preparing to go to the surface, not Maria’s ship.
"Captain, the Zephyr has cleared the bay." Max’s eyebrow went up. He should have known. Michael would be too impatient to wait for a break in engagement for them to lower shields long enough for Rama to dust off. Maria’s ship could leave whenever it wanted.
"Understood. Inform Gold team to follow him down to the planet."
"He’s not heading for the planet, Captain. He is making a run at the Imperial Cruiser."
Max turned and looked at his consol. "Full screen, and get me a connect to the Zephyr.
"Established, Sir."
"Michael, what the hell are you doing?"
Michael’s voice came back sounding distracted. "I’m going to take out the Imperial cruiser’s shield generators both aft and port."
"The hell you are, Michael! Pull back!"
"Negative. The Zephyr’s weapons can penetrate the shields." Max winced as he noticed Michael barely avoiding a collision. Maria’s ship was taking some direct hits.
"Alex, how are the Zephyr’s shields holding?"
Alex shook his head, "I cannot tell. I am still unable to scan the ship through its protective shielding, so that can only be good."
Alex turned from his sensors and the control panel at his station to face his Captain, noting his worried look at his crazy brother’s tactics.
"Max, if what he says is true, then we could follow him in and take out their weapon arrays. It would cause a full breach overload."
Max thought about what Alex was suggesting, and nodded.
"Helmsman, follow the Zephyr in once he takes out the shields." Max re-established a connection to Michael. "We’ll follow you in, Michael. But you be careful or Mother will be having a very bad day."
Michael chuckle came over the com. "Mother is bonded to Father - every day is bad."
Max just laughed as he watched Michael go in. "Order all small crafts away at a safe distance, and sound bracing orders. Helmsman, once we target the weapons array, full engines out of here."
"Aye, Captain."
Liander targeted the larger support ships approaching to protect the larger cruiser. "Captain, we have..."
"I see them. Full power to our shields, steady as she goes." Max watched as Michael’s ship went in low and fast taking some hits to his front shield caught in the crossfire of their gunnery cannons. They were helpless to lay in protective fire with the shields still online.
There was a sudden uproar in the Bridge crew as Michael made his first target. "Captain, he took out the port shield generator and is coming around for the aft one."
"Stay the course, don’t enter into the field until he clears. I don’t want him caught in the wake."
"Captain, our aft shields are down to ten percent."
Max swore. Come on Michael...Quit dillydallying and get that last generator. They were taking increased fire to their portside from the cruiser’s support vessels while they waited for Michael to finish his run.
"Captain..."
"Divert auxiliary power to the port shields. Helmsman, we can’t wait any longer, take us in."
"Aye, Cap."
"Steady as she goes, Sam." Max turned in his seat to face Liander, who was Michael’s second in command in weapons and security. "Li, let's make every shot count. I’m not sure we can make another run."
"Consider it done, Cap. I have the target in sight and targeting is locked."
"Max, Michael has taken out the second target, the Imperial cruiser’s shields are down and she is defenseless." Max just nodded.
"Take us in, Helm."
They came in fast and low taking hits from the ship's cannons, but the shields were down and the first spread of torpedoes took out the main weapons array, and on their way out, they took out the rest. Pushing hard, Shiva headed away from the Sihvaka.
"Sam?"
"It’s going to be close, Cap. Her main systems just went critical."
"All hands, brace for impact."
Alex strapped in his chair and began the countdown, "...five, four, three, two, one..."
The last Imperial cruiser of an attack fleet went critical, taking with it most of its support ships that were unable to distance themselves in time. The Shiva took impact of a full force compression wave damaging her lower decks, and draining power to essential fields.
Max checked his staff, as the flight deck was strangely silent.
"Damage control report. Someone find me the Zephyr."
Max's command console began lighting up as ship damage reports flooded through. "Put out those fires on decks three through six, and reroute power of the main grid. Helm, what is our situation?"
"We have a full debris field, only one support ship remains and some smaller fighter craft. The remaining ship has sustained heavy damage. She is trying to jump to a slip stream."
"Bring us about. Let's finish the job. Order our fighters to check in and report damages. Tell them to sweep the field and take out the rouge fighter ships."
"Aye, Cap."
Max answered a hail to his station.
"Max, I’d appreciate if you could re-establish my full systems in Sickbay. I’ve got wounded, and it’s hard to operate by candle light. Romantic as all hell, and I’m sure Sean would appreciate the ambiance, but still..."
Max looked at his operations officer, who nodded. "Operations is on it now, Kyle. We’ll re-establish your systems first." Max sighed and then asked quietly. "How is Sean?"
"Not too good. Being operated on during a battle is hardly optimum. I’m placing him in regeneration once the surgery is done."
"Casualties?"
"Heavy. Mostly burns and impact concussions. I’ve got thirty dead so far, and reports of missing personnel." Kyle paused before continuing. "Lady Isabel was hurt."
Max’s hands tightened on his chair. He fought the desire to go to her, but remained at his station. His duty was clear and personal feeling had no place at this time.
"Assessment?"
"I’ll get back to you on that, when I know," Kyle’s voice went soft, "on both Sean and Isabel. Sickbay, out."
"Anyone get a fix on the Zephyr yet?"
Alex shook his head no. "Negative, Max. I suspect he headed straight for Zion."
"Someone hail his ass. Tell him if he doesn’t respond, I’ll assign him galley duty for the next month." Max smiled to himself when the Bridge crew groaned almost collectively at the thought of being forced to eat Michael's cooking for a month straight. "Belay that order, the only people who’ll suffer is the crew. Has Rama left the slip?"
"Aye, Captain. She is thirty minutes from planetside."
"Deploy a full squadron to assist. I want our people back. How many did we lose so far from the Vishnu?"
"Commander said thirteen so far." Max nodded. There was much needed retribution to be had.
"Khivar won’t take this very well, Max. He’s going to feel this hard."
"Yeah, I’m really worrying about that. I want him squealing from it, and feeling it long after I’m gone. I want him to feel it so hard he can’t sit from the soreness. Rat bastard."
"He still has the Granilith," Alex reminded him. Khivar was still in control as long as he held the power to destroy worlds.
"Then by God, we’ll take it back! The price of freedom from oppression comes with a cost, but I’ll go to bloody hell and back before I live on my knees!" Time for caution had ended. "I don’t want a single Imperial soldier left standing on that planet." Max stood up from his command chair. "Who the hell is that ship out there? Ours or theirs? Find out, and if it’s theirs, I want them taken care of..."
The crew was silent, but none protested. Many shared looks of pride and resolve. They had lost too much. Khivar took, and then he took more. He held the Universe hostage and under his thumb, and only an idiot didn’t realize that once Khivar achieved his idea of ‘genetic perfection’ that their entire universe would be scrubbed of the ‘imperfect’ and Khivar’s clones would replace them all.
"Welcome to the rebellion, gentlemen. Now someone get us all some coffee, we’ve got work to do." Max turned in his chair. "Alex, your sisters are in Sickbay. Isabel took a hit. You might want to..."
Alex quickly stood. He signed over his station to another and left the Bridge to go check on his sisters in Sickbay.
~~~
Michael landed the Zephyr close to the cave again. Moving slowly and cautiously, he approached the cave. There was a full squad of Imperial fighters engaged with Michael’s men in front of the cave. They held them back a good three hundred meters from the entrance.
Moving to circle behind the Imperials, Michael saw some of their small fighter craft coming in for a strafing run. Holding back, he waited until they finished and went to come back around.
Moving in closer, Michael carefully loaded an iso-linear tracking device, and tagged a wounded Imperial left at the fringes.
"Gold Leader, this is ground, do you read?"
"We read you, Commander."
"I’ve tagged the Imperials. Pick up your target to narrow band frequency two-two-six mark three, do you copy?"
"Copy, Commander. I have echo and lock on low band, two-two-six mark three. We are coming in."
Michael quickly vacated the area, and moved off to some high ground. Moving parallel to his engaged men, he was swept off his feet by an arm to his neck.
Barely able to breath or talk, Michael recognized the arm. Jonesy.
"Dammit, Jonesy. I need to breathe."
The man released him. "Sorry Sir, I thought you were..."
"I know. What com frequency are you transmitting?"
"Delta band."
"Call the troops back. Gold squadron is coming in for a low fly-by. I tagged the Imperials."
Jonesy quickly called back their men from their defensive position. He and Michael rushed to return to the cave as their defensive hold. Michael frowned as he watched their few men returning to the cave front.
"Where is she?" Michael asked. He looked at the man, and was suspicious when the large dark man tried to avoid his eyes. "Jonesy?"
"Well, um...actually, that is to say...I..." the man actually faltered, and tried to distract Michael by pointing out the incoming fighters.
Michael was undeterred. "Lieutenant. Where the hell is your Princess?"
The man actually looked embarrassed. He scratched his neck. "Well,...I, it’s like this...I, um..."
"You promised to watch over her!"
"I did. I tried. I mean, I really tried!"
Michael’s eyes narrowed. "What did she do?" The man looked uncomfortable again. "Dammit, Lieutenant, just tell me!"
"I tied her up." He admitted quietly.
The shock was apparent on Michael’s face. "I..." he rubbed his face in wonder, "you...you tied her up?"
"Sir, I didn’t have any option. She was everywhere at once. I couldn’t keep tabs on her, and just as soon as I controlled one situation, she was off doing something else..."
Michael’s hand went over his mouth and he tried to hide his mirth. Clearing his throat, he looked at the man over his hand.
"Let me get this straight. You tied up your Princess?"
"And gagged her." Michael almost lost it. "I had to! She...she’s a menace!"
Michael lost it. Laughing so hard, he almost fell over. Jonesy didn’t seem to amused. He actually looked guilty and shamefaced.
"Gagged her? She couldn’t have liked that."
"No, Sir! She was a tad bit miffed at being tied up. I only gagged her later." The man said quietly to Michael almost in a conspiratorial voice. "She called me terrible things..."
"I can imagine."
"So I didn’t even know what some of them were, but I think...they were bad." Michael almost felt bad for his crestfallen officer.
"Don’t worry. I’ll explain them to you later. I’m sure I've already heard them all." Michael turned and watched the enclave of Imperials being pounded by air support. Rama was landing not far away. "Relief, ground support has arrived. Let's go untie the Princess."
The large dark man actually looked afraid. "Um...do we have to?"
Michael laughed as the force field in front of the cave came down. He could hardly contain his glee at seeing Maria all tied up and gagged on the palate he shared with her the night before. She saw him immediately and started to struggle. For a moment, Michael entertained the idea of leaving her tied up, but he finally gave in, wanting to hear her reaction.
"About time! What the hell took you so long? Do you have any idea I’ve been tied up, gagged, and..."
Michael cut her bonds and chuckled. Maria had been shooting angry glances at the unhappy Jonesy. But Michael’s chuckle brought her attention to him.
"You! It was you!" Michael looked at her in confusion.
"What?"
"You ordered Jonesy to tie me up!" Michael made a face at her. "It had to be! This totally stinks of you! Jonesy is a sweet gentle man. He’d never do such a thing unless he was ordered."
Michael’s voice rised in indignation. "You’re putting this on me?"
Michael looked at his Lieutenant for help, but the man looked only too happy to let Michael take the blame and quickly went to help Maria up, his puppy-like devotion almost sickening.
Michael watched as Maria and Jonesy walked off leaving him, all the while Maria patting the large man on his back and reassuring him. Michael just growled and followed them outside. Maria was off and running as Michael came to stand next to Jonesy.
"We’re going to have a little talk about this later."
Jonesy just ignored Michael pretending to have no clue what Michael was referring to. Before Michael could make another comment, Maria's loud, biting and shrill voice rang out. He hurried to her side.
"My ship! Oh god! What did you do to it?"
It was Michael’s turn to actually look a little guilty. Zephyr had sustained some serious damage. The outer ship showed blackened laser hits. Maria climbed up into the ship and started to do a diagnostic of her systems. The sounds of outrage and accusations only increased.
"I give you my ship and this is what you do?"
"Hey! I was in the middle of a battle. It’s all superficial!" A piece from the ship fell off at almost his feet. Cussing under his breath, Michael quickly kicked it under the ship out of sight.
"Superficial? This isn’t superficial! Half the systems are down. How you made it to the surface is a mystery."
Michael had to agree with that. It was touch and go on the way down.
"It can be repaired."
Maria just snorted. "I lend you something, and this is how you take care of it?"
"It mostly needs some cosmetic work..."
"Cosmetic? This is a full repair...and don’t think you’re getting away with it. I..." Another larger piece came off the ship hitting the ground with a loud thump. Maria made a sound of distress, and leaning out of the cockpit to see what the noise was.
"What was that?" Michael just groaned. He knew it. He should have left her tied up and gagged.
~~~
Max and Alex entered the capital city of Zion. They left air support and ground troops on the front steps of the Etruscan Alliance. As they walked the long hall, those serving and waiting in attendance moved out of their way.
Alex was in full Eminent regalia with the emblem of his office clear and plain. Max walked at his side in full stature covered in battle leather, his hair down about his face unshaved and harsh, and his scar brilliantly stark against his face.
Alex looked at the barely controlled angry man next to him. "Any word from Michael?"
"Not yet. Rama just set down, and air support took out most of the Imperials."
Alex just nodded, but chose to remain silent. He knew that Max’s anger wasn’t just about the missing Michael, or the loss of life and the Vishnu. It was that this system more than likely had betrayed them for a price, a promise of reward from Khivar to help set up the ambush.
The entered the Great Hall and approached the full Council sitting in wait without an audience.
One man stood as the other remained sitting. Max took out his gun and shot the man dead, directly in the forehead. The room became silent with only the sound of the laser shot echoing.
"Who is in command?" A man sitting beside the now dead body pointed at the corpse.
Max repeated his question. "Who is in command?"
There was continued silence, until finally a man to the back of the room came forward.
"I am the one in charge." The man came to stand at his rightful place at the Council table looking down at his servant who had stood in his place only moments before.
"How much?" The men at the table looked at each other, then at the quiet Eminent One. But all eyes kept returning to Max who held undisputedly the highest amount of power.
"I’m sorry. I’m uncertain what it is you wish to know."
"I want to know how much you gained for betraying a contract to an Eminent." Max voice did not alter, did not rise, but remained cold and deadly. "I want to know what the going price is on betrayal."
The man’s eyes blinked at that. "I assure you that we did not..."
Max calmly shot the man to the leader's left, and then the one to his right. The man trailed off in silence. Max continued, now that he had the man’s undivided attention.
"What is the going price on my ship? On my men? On my brother? What price can possibly compare to the death and destruction brought to my people?"
Alex might be the owner of Shiva, but there was only one Captain, one real owner. That was Max.
"My Lord," the man said hesitantly, "what is it that you feel will compensate you for this situation?"
Max just looked at the man with eyes lacking in warmth or compassion. "You would have me name a price for over fifty dead, a lost ship, numerous wounded and in despair, along with untold damages?" Max seemed to think of the situation.
"My Lord..."
"First, you will pay for full salvage."
The Council stirred at that first request. "But my Lord, there was no real salvage."
"I beg to differ." Max nodded at one of his men who brought forward a dead Imperial corpse and tossed at the Head of the Council’s feet. The protest was silenced.
"Your other demands?" he asked quietly.
Max just sighed and looked down at the floor, and then up again. "Now that just pisses me off! Demands?" Max shot two more men both next in seats to the previous. "These are not demands, or even requests! Get this straight. This is an obligation...an obligation to the victor, and a debt that you owe my people, and to the people of the Universe for siding with Khivar against all that is humane, holy and right."
The man just bowed his head, unwilling to anger Max any further.
"You will pay full replacement cost of my ship the Vishnu. Compensatory lifetime payment to the families of the dead, who are now without them."
The man nodded. "Anything else, my Lord?"
Max walked closer to stand practically nose to nose with the man. "Yes. My brother is one of the missing. Know this - if my brother is found among the dead there is no world far enough to escape me. I will find you, your people, your children, your spouses, your parents and siblings. I will remove from this universe any person who knew or came into contact with you. I will lay waste to your cities and worlds, and I will not stop until you and all those who knew you, are gone."
The man gulped and slowly backed away. "Compensation will be made, my Lord."
Max turned to leave, but quickly looked back. "Tell me. Whatever Khivar offered you to betray us into an ambush, was it worth it?"
"No, my Lord. It was not." The man said softly.
Max walked away, but Alex did not follow. He had remained silent the entire time with his hands clasped before him. Finally the leader lifted his eyes to make contact with the Eminent One.
"The cost is more than you know. To sleep with a viper, one must be careful not to feel the bite. Khivar will come to investigate. He has lost a full battle fleet. It will be hard to imagine that one ship such as the Shiva would be a match for four Imperial cruisers with support ships. He will suspect betrayal, and for a race of people who would put a price on others' heads? A race who betrayed once? He will suspect that the viper has swallowed its tail."
Alex left them to their fate.
~~~
Max and Alex entered the Sickbay. Alex immediately sought out his sister Lonnie who was sitting at Isabel’s bedside. Max looked in, but left the family alone.
"Kyle."
"Max. The planet still exists. I'm surprised."
Max just shrugged. "Khivar will take care of it himself. There need be no more blood on our hands." Max rubbed his face in tiredness. "Any word from Michael and Maria?"
"Recovery team has them. Rama will dock in another ten. I guess there was an incident."
Kyle pushed Max into a chair and handed him cup of coffee made on a Sickbay burner. It tasted like it too. Burnt.
"An incident?" Max took a drink and grimaced feeling the liquid burning a hole in his empty stomach.
"Seems that they were uncertain that the Zephyr would make it back. She suffered extreme damage. Maria refused to leave it behind, so both she and Michael are bringing her home. I guess Maria had a lot to say about Michael’s ability to take care of her property."
Max nodded and actual smiled a little. "If she doesn’t make it, we’ll tractor beam it home. I’ll not have us lose that little ship. She is small, but she has power." Max looked at Kyle, the weight of his command in his eyes. "I owe Maria more than I can ever repay. Had she not followed Michael, and that ship..."
Kyle nodded. Without the Zephyr they would’ve all been lost. The technology of the Ancients had overwhelmed Khivar’s fleet, unable to stop her torpedoes from penetrating their shields. Her reflective shields prevented them from getting a targeting lock on her, and all the damage she took was from line of sight hits. It turned the battle, and saved them from total annihilation.
Max felt tired, more tired than his thirty-four years. "Sean?"
Kyle gestured for Max to follow him. They walked beyond the beds littered in the wounded to severe to move from his care, to another medical treatment room. Sean was submerged in a regenerative bath, asleep and connected to life support.
"How long before he’s up causing food poisoning?"
"A week. The damage was almost too far gone to reverse. Thank god Michael brought him home when he did. We almost lost him."
"Any lasting damage?"
"Bad arm. He’ll feel the cold much like Maria does. It will pain him almost like an arthritis, but the break was bad. Real bad. He’ll have full use, just something to bitch about."
Max went to the regenerative tank and placed his hand on the glass separating him and his life long friend, his brother. Squeezing Kyle’s shoulder, he turned to leave.
"Max." Kyle waited for Max to stop. "You did well. It was righteous."
"It was a waste."
Max left Kyle with Sean, and stood in Isabel’s door. Alex and Lonnie were just leaving.
"How is she?"
Alex holding Lonnie’s hand, smiled slightly. "She is resting comfortably. She took quite a bit of debris. They had to dig her out of a collapsed corridor. Luckily they did not lose environmental and there was not a hull breach. Others were not so lucky. Kyle said she can move back to our quarters maybe tomorrow or the next day."
Max nodded.
"I’m going to take Lonnie back to her rooms and try to get some rest. I suggest that you do the same."
"I will. In a little while." Max entered the room and sat at the bedside, taking her small white hand in his. Shaking his head, he couldn’t say what pained him, maybe everything, maybe the day. But the day was theirs. Small comfort. Khivar would come.
"He’s right. You should sleep." Isabel said softly. Max looked up from where he was staring at their joined hands.
"I will."
"The battle?"
"Over. We sort of won, or as much as a win can be when you lose life."
Isabel looked at his tired face. "I’m sorry. I was in the galley when the full alert went. I never made it back to my rooms."
Max leaned forward and ran her hand across his mouth, and then rested his head against it. Her hand moved and stroked his scar.
"So will I have scars like yours?"
Max looked at the small gash on her head, and the tiny thin lines marring her skin. They would heal.
"I don’t think so. I think yours will fade."
Isabel just nodded, and her voice hushing to the sounds of sleep falling upon her. "Too bad yours never did..."
Max watched her sleep and knew she wasn’t talking about the scar on his face.
~~~
As soon as the Zephyr was docked, Michael was out of it. Maria had fallen asleep once they were in space so she missed the harrowing ride, which was perhaps for the best.
Reaching in the back co-pilot’s seat, he lifted her out and without stopping, cleared the landing bay and ran straight to the lifts. But it wasn’t the best of days since all the lifts were offline, so Michael hoisted Maria over his shoulder and made for an access tube running between decks.
Maria’s voice was tired and as usual, sure she knew what was correct. "You’re going to kill us."
"Shut up." He slowly climbed down the ladder balancing her not so considerable weight. Nothing. Nothing was going to come between him and their bed.
"Okay, but when you kill me...I’m going to wake up and say, I told you so."
"Maria, I swear..."
"You do little else."
Michael finally made their deck and looked at the damage. He could care less. As long as his bed was intact, and he could collapse for a few hours...the hell with the world.
"Cold." Maria whispered against his neck. She was right. The deck was freezing. Internal environmental controls were gone.
Venting his frustration, Michael was further impeded by their door refusing to open. The lock keypad was another system down. Michael propped Maria up against the wall, and took out his boot knife and jimmied the door open.
Carrying her into their bedroom, he didn’t even bother to see if the door shut behind them. Placing her on the bed, Michael was ready to collapse.
"No." Maria said.
"No what?"
"Bath. I need to feel clean."
"Maria, lets just sleep for a couple of hours, and then you can take a bath."
Maria just moaned against him. Sighing he went and turned on the shower. The water was cold. Going back into the bedroom, shedding his clothes along the way, he quickly stripped her and carried her to the waiting cold bath. A small part of him, actually a large part of him was gleefully waiting her reaction to the water."
The scream was well-deserved and anticipated. Even Michael swore under his breath from the stinging cold.
"Dammit, Michael you did that on purpose!" Michael grabbed the soap and quickly washed them down.
"I’m not responsible for the damage to the ship, but you said you wanted to feel clean, so..."
"Not responsible? Just like you refused to be responsible for Jonesy tying me up?"
"That was completely his own doing, and I refuse to take the blame."
Maria just leaned against him, and said softly the lack of sleep, and the strain of the past few days taking their toll, "You didn’t reprimand him or anything."
Michael just made a face. Yeah, like he’d do that. He was actually sorry he hadn’t thought of it himself.
"Come on, Princess. Sleep."
The trip to the bed and into sleep became one large blur as the tiredness hit them hard. Maria burrowed as close as she could with the heating units off, and the room being colder than usual, Michael’s body was the only source of heat.
It was hours later that she woke up burning. It didn't register at first, and in her sleep she tried to toss off the covers. When finally it did register, she was wide awake.
Michael was running a high fever.