COLOSSUS: A New Menace Page 4

  Jak began fondling her magnificent breast, then began thrusting upward to meet Katin’s movements. She brought her legs up and raised herself upon her feet. She leaned slightly forward and the two lover’s timing became perfectly in sync.

  Her seductive moans, as well as their bodies fitting perfectly, was too much for Jak and he said, “I can’t hold out much longer.”

  “Don’t hold back, Jak. I need all of you, now.”

  The lovers both exploded at the same time. Jak gave out a low, almost primeval sound as Katin screamed. She collapsed on top of him and was breathing heavily. Jak could feel her heart pounding as she laid on him not moving a muscle.

  He turned his head and began giving her gentle kisses on the side of her face as he lightly stroked the side of her legs. They laid in the same position for several minutes before Katin slowly dismounted him and snuggled up close to him as he stayed on his back.

  Neither said anything for a long time and to Jak’s surprise, his love had fallen asleep totally exhausted. Jak thought I need to find out why she looked so pale. I hope nothing is wrong with her. I’m not sure if I could take her being seriously ill. As soon as she wakes I’m going to find out. Jak closed his eyes and in less than a minute dozed off himself.

  Chapter 8

  Jak and Katin spent the rest of the night in chambers making love but not before he had the chance to ask her if she had been feeling ill. Her answer caught him off guard when she began explaining her paleness, which began to turn back to her smooth flesh color after making love.

  “It pleases me that you are concerned about my health. But rest easy as my illness will subside even more the more we make love.”

  “Why will making love bring you back to normal?”

  “Before I answer your question I should let you know why I need your lovemaking more now than in the short future. First, I have fantastic news, Jak. I am with child, your child.”

  Jak couldn’t have known the thought of having a child would affective him so emotionally. Jak Hammer was not that kind of man, or so he thought. Hell, he never saw himself as a person to fall in love, get married, and have children. He pulled her to him tightly and said, “Your news pleases me to no end. I can’t believe Colonel Jak Hammer is going to be a father.”

  Katin’s face was literally glowing and noticing it didn’t escape his attention. He put his hands on both sides of her beautiful face, stared into her bright blue eyes and kissed her softly on the edges of her lips, then just her bottom lip, then passionately kissed her.

  When he pulled back he looked at her again and saw the unmistakable look of desire she always had when she is in tune with the needs of her body. She rolled onto her back and placed her right hand between her legs and said, “Love me, Jak.”

  To which he was more than happy to oblige. He forgot all about asking her why she was feeling ill. When it was time to turn in for the night Katin backed up to Jak and quick and quietly fell into a deep sleep.

  Jak laid on his side with his arm over her and thought Jak, what the hell have you done?I can see it now. Allen is chewing my ass for quite a while, then asks me, what in your wildest imagination do you think the USC is going to say or do when they receive the news that Colonel Jak Hammer is the first Human to father a child with an alien species and that alien is the Empress of Abor?

  ****

  Lieutenant Pagon contacted High Mage Cina to inform her Commander Lurcie had just come into Planet Abor’s atmosphere and requested permission to land. Lieutenant Pagon granted her request.

  Pagon asked, “Is your command for her to go straight to Strategic Planning?”

  “No, advise her to meet me in Warrior’s Hall. I will be there waiting for her arrival. And Lieutenant, contact Caid Maalik and request him to meet me there. After you’ve contacted the Daakie, give control of the comm to one of your subordinates and join me.”

  I’ve got to interrupt the Empress’s time with her Human lover as news of locating the Hive homeworld has priority. She and Colonel Hammer should be present at the viewing of Commander Lurcie’s recording of the Helo System.

  High Mage Cina, Tage Doni, Caid Maalik, Empress Katin, Colonel Hammer, and Commander Lurcie were all present at Cina’s request to view the recording of the Helo System. When the recording started, the Hive activity was astonishing to those watching.

  Flying in stealth mode Commander Lurcie was able to record activity around three planets before feeling the need to leave the system for safety reasons. Lurcie and her crew, on two separate occasions, had to veer sharply away from two Hive nests as each time the nests almost flew into the Aborian Predator because the aliens filled the space around all three planets.

  Commander Lurcie and her crew counted six central command structures, more than one thousand Hive nests, and twice as many haulers, transports, and a variety of other smaller ships, and all those were in space. All three planets were alive with activity coming and going from the planet’s surfaces.

  Two minutes into the recording Commander Lurcie pointed at the planet located in the middle of the other two and said, “We captured something very interesting coming from the surface of this planet. It should be coming up any second.”

  A few seconds later the viewers saw a large orange ball shoot up through the planet’s atmosphere and hit a target in space, blowing it into millions of pieces.

  “What the hell was that?” Hammer asked.

  “They were testing one of those towers we saw on Planet Daak that turned out to be a weapon,” Lurcie said.

  “A very powerful weapon I think,” Tage Doni said.

  The recording ended and no one said anything for a few minutes as it seemed everybody was trying to digest what they had just seen. The first to speak was Empress Katin.

  “How are we to defeat such a large number of Hive at one location? Even with our far superior warships, the task would be most difficult, and not without considerable losses to our fleet. Would you agree, High Mage?”

  “Yes, I would, Your Grace. But knowing what we know now, how can we ignore the threat that will eventually come to Abor, as well as every living planet in our shared galaxy? The Hive is not a species that fight over territory or political gain among their race. They survive to kill other lifeforms, grow their population, strengthen their military, enslave and feed upon their captives.”

  Katin turned and looked at Jak and asked, “What is your most valued opinion, Colonel Hammer?” The Aborian commanders knew better to say anything but weren’t in favor of their Empress asking the Human for his thoughts on the matter at hand.

  “I’m honored that among this galaxy’s finest warriors you would ask my opinion, Your Grace. But since you did ask, I will give it. Their numbers are too great for any type of headlong charge into their well-defended homeland. Wouldn’t you agree, High Mage?”

  Pleased that Colonel Hammer valued her opinion she said, “I would agree, Colonel.”

  “It has been known among my kind that in the face of overwhelming odds the best attack plan has always been a hit and run, better known among our military command as the attack and evade method. “

  “Care to elaborate on this attack and evade method, Colonel?” Empress Katin asked.

  “Yes, Your Grace. Commander Lurcie would you please start the recording again?” Jak loved the hologram recordings used by the Aborians. One could simply walk around the three-dimensional hologram and point at any object or area being discussed.

  “If I was in command of an attack on this homeworld I would begin by sending three separate recon groups. One for each of these three planets. After seeing the power of the Hive’s new land-based weapon, a plan to attack would have to wait until we were certain of how many of those weapons they have operational.

  “It would be most dangerous to attack their homeworld without eliminating such weapons. If not eliminated, many ships would be destroyed without ever getting near the atmospheres of any of the planets.”

  “I agree with Colonel
Hammer. We must have intelligence on the weapons prior to any attacks on their homeworld,” Tage Doni said.

  No sooner did the Tage get the words out when a most disturbing thought comes to Jak. “Commander, where did you say this system is located?”

  She switched the hologram of the Helo System to a well-defined star chart, located the Helo System and pointed it out.

  “Could you show me where the Kilkin System is, please?” Jak knew the Colossus was in the Kilkin System and also remembered Admiral Allen was planning on moving to the Jovan System next if the search didn’t find a homeworld in Kilkin.

  The Kilkin and Jovan Systems were on a direct path and in line with the Helo System. Helo was the third system Admiral Allen and Vice Admiral Petrov had charted for exploration. After informing the Aborians of the probability of his people running into a large Hive force that could easily destroy Colossus and all those on board, he insisted on being taken back to Colossus immediately. Colossus needed to be warned and a course change had to be implemented.

  Surprisingly, he got no objection from Empress Katin. She agreed he needed to get back to his people and warn them as quickly as he could. The real objections came when she announced she and twenty Aborian Raptors would be going to the Kilkin System with him.

  “Your Grace. Abor can’t afford to lose the supreme leader of the Aborian world. I cannot think of anything more devastating to our kind or to me. Please reconsider, my beloved. Allow me to command the fleet of Raptors. I will safely return Colonel Hammer to his people,” said High Mage Cina.

  “Oh, my precious Cina. Don’t worry, because I will be joining you. I will need my top commander to lead the fleet. Tage Doni, you will remain here to rule over Abor until my return.”

  Jak walked over from the star chart to where Katin was sitting, leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You are carrying our child. I would feel a lot better if you stayed here under the protection of the Aborian military.”

  She pushed him gently away, stood up, and said, “Everyone has heard my order, and I expect it to be adhered to. High Mage, begin making plans for the trip to the Kilkin System. We will go as soon as you are ready. I will be ready within the hour or shortly thereafter. Make it so, High Mage.”

  Katin took Jak’s hand and they both walked out of Warrior’s Hall and went to the Empress’s private chambers leaving some nervous and upset commanders in their wake. Upset as they were bound by honor to obey their Empress’s command.

  Chapter 9

  Usually, when the Humans jumped into a new star system and before beginning the process of scanning any rocky planets found to be in the system they would first begin their exploration by taking a chemical analysis of any gas giants that might be in the system. It was usually accomplished within one pass around the targeted gas giant.

  Once the chemical analysis was completed, the Colossus and her crew would move on to their first target in their search for planets that could be habital for Humans to live on. But with Admiral Allen’s new exploration protocol, he ordered the gas giants to be ignored.

  Just as Colossus passed the second gas giant, proximity alarms started pinging. Admiral Allen and Vice Admiral Petrov were in their command chairs when the alarms sounded. “What the hell? Gordo what are you showing on your screen?”

  Before Gordo could answer, the Colossus began taking on powerful hits from something coming from the gas giant. “Shields up. Red Alert! All hands to their battle stations,” Allen ordered over the shipwide intercom system.

  “Gordo. I need to know where the attack is coming from, damn it.”

  “Admiral, we have a dozen alien spacecraft coming from the gas giant, sir.”

  “On screen, Gordo.”

  Sure enough, it was as Gordo had said. Colossus was being attacked by ships coming up from the gas giant. Allen thought how the hell can anything live on a gas giant?

  “Attacking spacecraft. This is Admiral Allen of the USC Colossus. We mean you no harm. Cease and desist your firing upon us or we will be forced to defend ourselves. This is your first and only warning.”

  “What kind of ships are those, Admiral? They look like small blazing orbs,” Petrov asked.

  “Hell if I know, but if they don’t stop firing on us we are going to take them out.”

  The aliens ignored Allen’s warnings and kept up the attack. Allen called Sergeant Givens and asked, “Sergeant Givens, are your men manning the rail guns on the port side?”

  “Aye, Admiral. We are locked and loaded sir.”

  “I’m ordering the shield down so you make damn sure to eliminate the attackers in short order, Sergeant.”

  When the shields dropped the rail gun group did exactly as their Commander in Chief ordered and took out the alien fighters. Staying on a Red Alert status, the crew on the rail guns waited for a second attack from the gas giant but it never came.

  After several minutes without any further attack, Allen ordered his helmsman to put Colossus on cruising speed and left the vicinity of the gas giant.

  “If that was the welcoming committee to the Kilkin System, we may be in trouble,” Petrov said.

  “I agree, Admiral. I also find it interesting that they came from inside the gas giant. I don’t know why they attacked us and will probably never know. I’m going to take us off of Red Alert status and proceed with our primary objective.”

  ****

  With the Aborian fleet on their way to the Kilken System to meet up with Colossus, there was a major operation taking place on Abor. Tage Doni was given instructions by Empress Katin to gather up the Daakie and begin an earnest effort to help the Daakie build a fleet of Zurguts. Inside the huge manufacturing facility, Tage Doni was standing next to Caid Maalik and her crew of engineers along with a half dozen Daakie engineers.

  As the Humans had experienced in the past, it was difficult to tell when the Daakie was frowning or smiling as their faces usually stayed expressionless. But at that particular moment, Caid Maalik was definitely smiling. The anguish he had felt over the last month or so was almost overbearing. The thought of his fellow Daakies being persecuted was wearing on him.

  Even with the excitement of knowing the Aborians were serious about helping him build his fleet, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get enough Zurguts built within a minimum of a year, and in all honesty, maybe as long as two or three years. But still, actually beginning on the builds did relieve some of his stress.

  ****

  Colonel Hammer had no idea how difficult childbirth is for an Aborian female. All he knew was Katin seemed to be constantly drained of energy, and like now, was asleep in their quarters, so he decided to give it a shot and ask High Mage Cina about Aborian pregnancies.

  On his way to the bridge, Hammer was admiring the fascinating Raptor warship. The ship’s electronics, communication, and battle stations, as well as the strange metal that made up the interior of the ship, resembled nothing he had ever seen on any Human or Daakie ships.

  The metal that made up the walls of the ship seemed to be alive. It often changed colors and something similar to energy waves flowed through every panel. Some waves flowed horizontally and others vertically. Jak thought about asking Katin about the material but decided he shouldn’t bother her about it while she seemed to be in a weakened state. But he remembered Admiral Allen’s order for him to come back to Colossus with at least the Aborian technology of teleportation.

  Stealth technology might be asking for a little too much, though Jak’s thought process was after a longer period of time, his approach on the matter would be one that played on her feelings for him. Simply put, if he could convince her the technology would help keep him safe in situations of battle that could get him killed if not for the capability to cloak before and during dire situations of combat. He knew that he had to at least try for the good of his people and those that came after him and the crew of Colossus.

  While traveling in hyperspace the fleet’s crews weren’t as hard-pressed to stay at a higher level of r
eadiness as they would normally be in regular space. So the bridge would normally have a second in command overseeing the hyperspace flight.

  When Jak walked onto the bridge he was met by a beautiful red-haired, green-eyed warrior that was Security Chief for the Raptor warship. She hurried over to him and asked, “What are you doing without escort on my bridge, Human?”

  “Pardon me, miss…what’s your name?”

  “My name is of no concern to you, Human male. Answer my question before I boot you out into the corridor.”

  “I am Colonel Jak Hammer, and if you do decide to boot me out into the hall I don’t think my one true love, Empress Katin would be very happy with you. I was told by her and High Mage Cina that I could go anywhere I wanted to on this ship. Would you like to call your Empress and ask her if what I say is the truth? Though waking her up while she is resting might not be the best thing for your career.”

  “My apologies, Colonel. I was not made aware of your freedoms while on this ship and it would please me greatly if you would forgive my boldness, Colonel. Is there anything, anything at all that I can do for you?”

  “Yes, tell me your name.”

  “I am Katpur, Security Chief of Raptor One.”

  “It is my pleasure to meet you, Katpur. The reason I came to the bridge is I’m looking for your High Mage. Would you happen to know where she is?”

  “My beloved High Mage is in her quarters. Would it please you if I were to announce your wish to see her?”

  “Yes, that would please me.”

  Katpur couldn’t leave the bridge to escort Colonel Hammer to High Mage Cina’s quarters so she ordered a warrior to take him to meet her.

  Chapter 10