Chapter Ten
Paax
Paax paced the length of the bridge. He had to set aside thoughts of his little star during the conflict. Concern and worry for her would paralyze him. He had to trust that Braith would follow orders.
The lighting went from normal blue and white light to a more aggressive red. The battle cruiser was on alert and the warriors prepared for conflict.
The situation was unacceptable.
No one knew the location of the Judgment. The council had only just realized that the battle cruiser was not where it was meant to be. The elderly members of the council sent demanding transmissions, as if they could intimidate or bully Paax into returning to the tranquil space around Sangrin.
Tranquil was tedious and his warriors needed something more than a simple skirmish. They needed to bloody their fists in a pitched conflict. They needed a good, hard battle.
The council members were too old to remember what it was like to have fire in their blood, to burn with the need for battle. It was the Mahdfel purpose. They were made for battle. They needed to do more than patrol.
What was the point of a massive battle cruiser with cutting edge fire power and a complement of highly trained warriors if they just patrolled?
The Judgment emerged from a Gate to find a Suhlik warship waiting for them. For all the convenience of Gate technology, they were a huge security risk. Normally a Gate had a full complement of ships to secure the passage. A craft was most vulnerable in the moments after exiting a Gate as sensors and mapping functions updated.
This Gate, however, had been abandoned by its Mahdfel sentry, for unknown reasons.
“Warlord,” Darian said, “two more colpor class ships are approaching.”
A colpor class ship held considerable firepower but not enough to rival the Judgment. Three against one significantly evened the odds.
Paax lead his clan right into a trap.
No one knew where they were headed. They had no orders. How could an ambush be waiting for them? Someone betrayed their flight plan.
Seeran would know who. Seeran always knew but the male was stuck on Earth until Vox resolved the business with his female. The Judgment would not have found itself in such unfavorable odds if Vox had not been matched. Females required a great deal to care for and protect, perhaps more than even a battle cruiser could provide, Paax admitted reluctantly. Omas might have been onto something when he forbade the warriors from taking mates.
No. That was not true. The battle cruiser’s situation was entirely his fault. He did not defy a direct order from the council but he violated its spirit.
“How quickly can we access the Gate?”
“The Gate engine needs to recharge,” Zadran said. Gates were powerful but slow and required a brief window between openings. “Fifteen minutes, minimum.”
“Open that Gate. How long for the Suhliks ships to be in firing distance?”
“Ten,” Zadran answered.
“All? Or just some.”
“The lead ship will be within range in ten minutes. The second and third will arrive in twelve.”
He needed five minutes. Or a way to convince the other Suhlik vessels to stay their distance. A firefight with his mate and children onboard was unacceptable on so many hellish levels.
“Orders, sir?” Darian asked.
“Hail the lead Suhlik ship.” He wasn’t in a position to negotiate. They didn’t need to know that.
A golden scaled Suhlik male filled the view screen. His eyes went through the unsettling motions of blinking twice. “Paax Nawk. What an unexpected honor.”
“I think it is entirely expected,” he said. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure, captain—”
“Captain is good enough for the likes of you. I don’t want my name on a dog’s lips.”
The Suhlik tried to anger Paax, hoping he’d make a rash and uncalculated move, exposing the Judgment. Fortunately for Paax he was able to be both infuriated and logical.
“This is Alva space,” Paax said.
“The fringes, yes. And we both know that who controls what space really comes down to who has the most firepower.”
Spoken like a true bandit. The Suhlik only took and always by force. “That would be me,” Paax said. “The Gate is keying up for a new opening. Do you really want to wait and see what sails through?”
The Suhlik captain's top lip curled back, revealing wicked sharp teeth. “You bluff but even if you spoke true, reinforcement would not arrive in time. Every moment that ticks by is a moment your lumbering ship is closer to feeling the sting of my missiles.”
“Just a sting?” The Judgment was huge, outfitted with the latest in shielding technology and weaponry. Nimble it was not but it could absorb anything a single colpor ship would throw at it. “You better hail us when you start firing, otherwise we’ll never know.”
More teeth. Guttural shouts came off screen, demanding the uppity Mahdfel’s blood. The captain ignored his crew and maintained eye contact with Paax. “With your mate onboard? I should congratulate you, Paax Nawk, for two live births. The twin mutation was a gene we never mastered. The fatality rate was too high to be advantageous.”
The Suhlik knew about his mate and sons.
“I’m flattered you bother learning the details of a dog and his mate.”
“You are a particularly talented dog, Paax Nawk.”
Paax fought the urge to shiver as the Suhlik captain spoke his name, disgusted at the way the male rolled the vowel sounds in his mouth like a tasty morsel.
“Surrender yourself and I will spare your crew.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because my ships will overwhelm your slow and graceless ship and I will board and I will find your mate and I will take your sons.”
Suhlik teleportation technology was superior to the Mahdfel tech. They were able to teleport in with pin-point precision. If the shield went down, they could very well teleport directly into his private quarters and seize Mercy. More likely, they would slaughter her and take Axil and Drake, claiming them for a life of experimentation and torture.
“I’d soon slit their throats than let you have them,” Paax said.
The Suhlik captain nodded, unsurprised by this response. “Serve me, Paax Nawk. Use that brilliant brain for your Suhlik masters as you were designed to do.”
“And you’ll spare the crew?”
“Yes.” The response came out as a long hiss, a forked tongue flicking over his lips.
“My crew can take care of themselves. You will spare all the mates and offspring on the ship. You will not board. You will not take anyone.”
The response was slower this time. “Yes. Agreed.”
“Let me think about it.”
Paax motioned for the communication to be cut. “Time until they are within firing range?”
“You can’t be serious,” Mylomon said. “They will never honor such an agreement.”
“Time.” Paax knew better than to ignore his second’s concerns. The Suhlik were liars and thieves and not to be trusted. Moreover, Mylomon had been stolen as a child and subjected to advanced research, if the abomination of science that was done to him could be considered research.
“Seven minutes,” Darian answered. “You’re not considering their offer, are you?” Paax gave the helmsman a sharp look. “Sir,” he added.
“Mylomon—” Paax turned to his second in command.
“All pilots are activated. Our starfighters will be able to muster in two minutes.” Clever male, anticipating his warlord’s plan.
“Very good. And?”
“You want a raiding party. How many warriors would you deploy?”
“How many are ready?”
“All.”
“All.” Paax did not question Mylomon’s statement. The male was not prone to exaggeration or fabrication.
“I want three boarding parties ready to depart the moment the pilots can give them coverage.” At the moment the lead Suhlik ship was alone and would be alone and within the Judgment weaponry for two long, long minutes. That was enough time for the battle cruiser to keep it occupied and off the raiding shuttles. The starfighters added an extra level of coverage.
“Just three?”
“I want you on the fourth. Take our best warriors with you. Alert Kleve and Jolyon but leave Braith.”
A slow grin spread over Mylomon’s face. “And whose heart do you want as a trophy?”
“Not a heart. I want you to disable the lead ship. Any means necessary.” His plan had a lot of moving parts but Mylomon seemed to grasp it. The Judgment would provide cover and harass the Suhlik ship while it was alone and vulnerable, allowing the raiding shuttles to board. Timing was crucial. If they were slow, the other two ships would arrive and they would be overwhelmed. No amount of volley from the Judgment would get them off the Suhlik ship again. They had to disable the ship, remove it from combat. The other ships would flee because Suhlik were cowards in their hearts and would never enter combat if the odds were not in their favor.
“Do you want it to self destruct?”
“Disabled. Do not destroy it. That’s a newer model. I’m sure there’s plenty we can salvage.”
“Will you join the raiding party?”
Paax wanted to. The men needed to see their warlord in action and fight side by side as brothers. “I need to see the entire battle,” he said with reluctance. Too much could go wrong. He needed to be here if the plan failed and the Judgment was boarded. He did not bluff when he said he would slit the throat of his family before letting them fall captive to the Suhlik. He had no doubt that Braith would follow that order but if Paax failed, he should be the one to wield the blade. He would do anything to protect his family and he would do the worst to spare them suffering as a Suhlik captive.
“And my pilot? You said take the best but Vox is on Earth.”
“Then take an adequate but available pilot.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sure Kheon will be thrilled to learn he is adequate and available.” His voice remained deadpanned but a slight tug at the corner of his mouth revealed his mirth. For him, he positively bounced with pleasure. “We won’t have long before the other Suhlik ships arrive.”
“Then work fast.”
Mercy
Braith refused to say what the scary red lighting meant until they were in the safe room. He also refused to explain the presence of the safe room.
An undetectable panel slid back soundlessly in the floor, revealing a hatch and a ladder. There was no way she was going down that ladder carrying two babies. One, maybe, but she needed at least one hand to hold onto ladder. If she had a bit of warning she could have fashioned a papoose carrier or a sling. “Has this been here the whole time?”
Braith climbed down three rungs on the ladder. “We do not have time. I must secure you and the little warriors. Hand me one.”
Mercy knelt at the opening and handed down Drake.
“Now the other.”
Just as her feet touched the top rung, Dorothy ran into the room.
“Good, I’m not too late,” she panted, face flush.
“What’s happening, Mom?”
“There’s a Suhlik warship but Paax didn’t tell me much, just ordered me to the safe room with you. I got here as fast as I could.”
Everyone knew about the safe room, apparently. She spent the last year living above it and never noticed. And now there was a Suhlik warship to worry about. She’d been through her fair share of skirmishes but never had the lights flashed red or had she been taken to a safe room.
Once down the ladder, Braith sealed the hatch. The safe room was a single room with a long bench along one wall and a bunk at the other. The walls and floor were constructed from a simple grey material. Hardly a resort. Harsh lightning did the stark space no favors. A quick inspection revealed a storage compartment under the bench with water and ration bars. A panel in the wall opened to a tiny cleansing room, barely tall wide enough for her, let alone a full grown Mahdfel.
A cold chill ran over her in a moment of clarity. This safe room was never meant for a Mahdfel male. This was designed for a female, for her. How many other safe rooms were there in the Judgment? One under every floor or did her status as the warlord’s wife give her such luxury? Were there secret hidey holes or compartments in the wall, big enough for a lone woman or a small child? She wanted to ask but she also didn’t want to know the answer.
Mercy shivered and reached for one of the blankets folded on the bunk. She recognized the material as being the scratchy wool-like cloth Paax preferred. “Will you tell me what’s going on?”
“The warlord did not inform me of the details,” Braith said. He placed a chair at the foot of the ladder and sat. His sword was drawn and placed on his lap.
“That serious?”
“You are protected in this room. It is surrounded by impenetrable nanocarbon. The environment and power systems are self sustaining. No one will detect a power signature from the room.”
“What about body heat? Wouldn’t that show up on a scan?” Mercy cradled a sleeping Axil. Dorothy held Drake and rocked him gently, cooing soothing sounds.
“Impenetrable to all things, including scanners. A raider would have to know the room existed to detect it.”
“And no one knows the room exists.” She certainly didn’t.
“Just us and the warlord. You are safe.”
“We’ve had skirmishes with Suhlik warships before,” Mercy said. “Why is it different now?”
Braith studied the edge of his blade.
“It’s not just one warship, is it?”
He held the blade up to the light, gleaming a wicked blue.
“How many is it?”
He placed the blade back across his lap. “I will protect you if we are boarded, but be assured that no one could detect this room and if they did, it is impossible to open from the outside.”
Braith’s words did not make her feel better. If the worst happened, if the Judgment was board by the Suhlik, if they found the safe room, if they managed to open it, Braith would fight to the death.
Mercy turned to Dorothy. “You said Paax ordered you here. Did you overhear anything else?”
She shook her head. “Something about a raiding party but I was in the mess hall and everyone was talking at once.”
“Tell me,” Mercy said, returning her attention to Braith. “Paax called away Kleve and Jolyon. Why? Where is he sending them?”
Braith shifted in his seat. “I am not privy to the warlord’s strategy.”
“But you know something.” He wouldn’t look her in the eyes and she wouldn’t let it go until he did.
“There are three Suhlik warships. If the warlord is sending a raiding party, he must mean to disable one of the ships and scatter the remains of the fleet or draw them away.”
Mercy sucked in a breath. “And if the ship is not disabled?”
The electric blue edge of the sword hummed.
Mercy sank onto the bench, holding Axil. “This is it, isn’t it?” Braith raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “I knew things were theoretically dangerous but I never really…” She didn’t finish that sentiment. It was a dangerous universe and she was married to a man shadowed by conflict. Life would never be peaceful with a warlord. How many times would she be hustled into the safe room? How would she feel when Axil and Drake were grown and off to fight their own battles? Would they survive long enough to reach that point? Would Paax live long enough to see them grown? It was a vicious, heartless universe that guaranteed no one a happy ending.
“Sweetie,” Dorothy said, adjusting the blanket that slipped from her shoulders.
No one told her not to worry or gave her false platitudes. She appreciated the silence.
“How will we know?” she asked Braith.
“Eh?”
“How will know if—” She paused and swallowed the lump in her throat. “How will we know to open the door?”
“The warlord will notify us,” Braith said, confidence ringing in his voice. “Paax Nawk has never failed a challenge. He will not fail now.”