To all,
Due to the interest in this series, here is Chapter 25.
For those reading from other countries and cultures, the US may seem to be acting a bit odd. At the tender age of 60ish, I have seen a bit and lived a bit. As a history buff, I am always fascinated to learn from the great and stupid beliefs and acts of our ancestors. I sat on the knee of my grandfather, who was two years old when the Wright brothers flew their first flight. He and I together, watched men land on the moon. I lived through the start and closing of the Vietnam war. I lived through Watergate and the resignation of Nixon. I watched and lived through the shift in our social structure caused by the ripples of pain wrought by others in power.
Yet, I have never seen the current level of stupidity and absurdity in our society, at least during my lifetime.
I wish I would be alive to see how history treats the insanity of our current US situation. I know in my heart we will bounce back, but to see the edge of the precipice is frightening.
While there is sex in this story it is not the primary driver and more an afterthought.
As we play in this year of 2021 and on into 2022, please stay safe and sane.
Part 25
***
And then the world went dark.
Directly above and behind them, a full class destroyer appeared. The air displaced by the sudden arrival made the sound of a monstrous thunderclap or sonic boom. The air movement overwhelmed the compensators and shook the small shuttle almost spinning it 90 degrees.
The aggressive enemy shuttle spun and took flight only to halt in mid-escape as the rear of the shuttle folded into itself. It plummeted to the caldera lake below and to the waiting arms of the tenacle creature.
Both the beast and the shuttle disappeared into the frothy water, not to be seen again.
The whole field of people stood frozen watching the shuttle plumet.
Alaina's voice echoed out through the exterior comm. "All aggressor forces are to stand down or be put down where you stand. Drop all weapons and lie prone on the ground with feet and arms outstretched."
With that direction, she raised the level of the bug weapons to maximum. A thin green rod of energy reached from the shuttle and etched a perfect circle in the tundra around the grouped combatants. Smoke and the acrid smell of burning soil spread over the adjacent area. Aya's 'theorical' creations and math had wrought some interesting innovations.
Multiple humans threw away their weapons and lay prone on the ground.
A single furred arm and hand stretched out of the grass and waived. "A Little help here!" came a shout and a mental request for help.
It was answered by the streaking of two muddy, tired animals coming to her aid and taking up a defensive perimeter next to her.
The giant ship sat above the scrum in near air, blotting out the sun on the ground like a giant eclipse.
"Hello Pappa, I am home. I came back on a diplomatic mission from CHOTH 4MB. I was on my way when I heard Kitten's cry for help." Stated a familiar voice in Drew's mind.
"Hello, my daughter, be careful we have an enemy destroyer at edge of atmosphere. But I assume you already know that?" Drew commented and asked.
"Yes, well that. They have their own problems now. They have lost power and their orbit is decaying quickly. But I think that the ship will be a fine addition to the CHOTH navy." Aya paused briefly.
"I'll transport the Humans to the Rock. They are Northern Alliance, and I am sure there are lots of questions to be asked." She commented with mirth and then paused.
Aya stated quietly, "the slaves will be given choices."
There was a quiet pause for more than a few minutes.
"Lord, the enemy destroyer is no longer in orbit? It's gone!" Alania commented with little reserve and a lot of emotion.
"Poppa, let me formally introduce myself in my new role." She mentally sent him.
He then heard Aya's voice over open Comm. "This Aya Drew Scott, Daughter of Lord Drew Scott, now ambassador from CHOTH 4MB. I am the special envoi from Queen Nor. Here to broker peace between the two kingdoms."
Lord Drew was quiet for a few moments as he stared at the shuttle console.
"And that would be my daughter, Aya, out to save worlds." He spoke with a sad smile and a shake of his head.
*
What he did not tell anyone else was Aya's personal communique before she signed off and went back to Choth 4MB,
"I warned you Papa. The new Tiffany is pregnant with your offspring and her game of chess continues. Be careful my Papa."
And Aya was gone.
***
Drew stomped down the corridor on the secured side of the Rock. While prisoners that had been tried and found guilty were allowed to roam the island as part of their sentence, these prisoners were either awaiting trial or something worse.
He stopped to check in at the second security check point and the Cats standing watch bowed or more formally went to one knee while bowing.
It saddened him that he no longer knew all the Cats, most of these new adults were his progenies but his work in the capital and other political strains kept him tethered to his official office.
"Up warriors, up! You may be grown and warriors now, but you're still mine and there is never a need to go to a knee for me. Showing respect is needed, but a simple head nod to a position of rank is sufficient." Drew ordered verbally so others could hear if listening or going about their duties.
They all stood at a form of attention and provided the respectful head drop in unison. They made way for him since they all knew why he had come. He was to interrogate the larger of the human prisoners.
The two female prisoners had already been talked to. They were North Alliance victims too. Family held to force their obedience. Forced to come on this mission for the overall gain of the Alliance's experimental weapons department. Two chemists with geological background.
"But why?" he intoned to himself for the hundredth time since interrogating the two female spies the day before.
Drew now knew the focus of the search but not the reason for the illicit physical search of his planet. They had been looking at citrine found on the Cat home planet. The yellow crystal was found throughout the galaxy, but the chemical make-up here on Atlantis it seems was unique.