Freelancers 02: the Cat's Genes

The Cat's Genes

Viri opened her dark green eyes long enough to see that her sister Saeru and their lover Kal were still asleep, and snuggled a little closer against him with her bushy black tail draped across his legs and her sister's tail. She liked to indulge in a little quiet dozing before their busy days, or nights as it might be, began. Although Torianne's clock was set to universal time, day and night were different on the planets at any time and following a specific rhythm was no use. They went to sleep when tired and woke up when they woke up, usually one shortly after the other.

Kal woke up not long after, and carefully tensed all his muscles to speed up the process of waking without waking up Saeru, knowing Viri was already awake as usual before him. He kissed her forehead. 'Bonori, sweetie.' he whispered.

She looked up with a soft smile, and stretched her neck out far enough for a long and tender kiss. 'Bonori, honey.' she whispered, and sunk beck into the embrace of his arm, and caressed his chest with her fingertips.

When Saeru woke up, she exchanged her equally tender and long kiss with Kal, and the three lingered in bed for a while longer to enjoy the relaxing time of being close together.

When they finally rose from the bed, Saeru stretched and moaned, and moved towards their suite's relatively large bathroom. She flipped a switch on the communication panel to activate it. 'Bonori Tori.' she said to let the ship know they were awake.

'Bonori, everyone.' Torianne replied in her pleasant voice. 'Sleep well?'

Viri joined Saeru in the bathroom. 'Yes. It's so nice to have a more spacious bedroom when travelling.' she said, and slipped into the shower before Saeru with a giggle. 'Not to mention everything else here.' She turned the faucet and sighed in brief happiness at the warm rain falling on her black face and body.

Viri joined her and splashed water on herself. 'And what makes it even better is that you can fly while we're asleep. Thank you.'

Torianne let out an electronic chuckle. 'My pleasure. I'm just so happy that I can fly again.'

Kal walked into the bathroom and admired the sight of glittering thin streams water running down the curves of his girls, the way their long, black hair clung in strands against their shoulders and backs, and their tails against their behinds and the backs of their legs. 'I could kiss you just for allowing us to fly the amazing star ship that you are.'

'Mmm..' she said with a melodic tone. 'The same way you kiss Saeru and Viri?'

The two girls giggled at his sudden blush, and he sniggered as he shook his head. 'I just might when I find the right spot for it, you cheeky little lady.'

Tori's electric giggle rang through the room, and he pulled his two wet girls against him. 'I don't want to make these two jealous though.' he said, and kissed each once in the sides of their necks.

Viri poked his nose and giggled. 'We might feel weird about having a ship as a rival, but since we're talking about an awesome girl like Tori, I think we can accept it.'

Saeru wiped his face down with her hand. 'But just this once. I don't want you flirting with every ship you see that has sleek curves.' she said with a mischievous smile.

Kal looked up. 'Well, you heard them, Tori. We can finally be open about our secret affair.' he said, and laughed and squirmed when the girls stepped away from the water and turned it to cold.

#

Kal and Viri used Reliant to fly the last distance to the large cargo transport station orbiting the sun at an environmentally comfortable distance, while Torianne hid in a cluster of asteroids surrounded by a dense dust cloud and Saeru conducted specialised repairs on her which would take the repair robots longer to perform. After the Reliant touched down at the designated cargo bay and taxied to their parking space, Viri went to the commercial area for supplies while Kal went to one of the cargo holds where he had an appointment with a client. A man appearing to be in his early forties and plenty of early grey hair and a woman in her late thirties with her black hair tied back, respectively dressed in a casual grey and a dark blue suit, waited at a metal crate which could fit a large person comfortably, and the man called out to him. 'You're Kal?'

Kal walked over to him. 'You're the ones who need a quick and secure transport?'

The man nodded and held out his broad hand. 'Farusco.' he said and gestured at the stoic woman. 'Laniël. We're from Telum.'

Kal suspected they weren't the administrative kind of employees they might try to appear to be, and shook their hands. 'Why this special transport?'

Farusco pat the hip height crate twice. 'This crate contains part of our research and is too valuable to let the regular couriers handle it. You came recommended as a reliable transporter who makes sure to deliver what you've been given.' He looked at the crate. 'There are too many leaks through the regular channels, and we don't want to attract attention from our competitors by sending an armed escort along with it. It may sound a little overkill, but we'd rather be sure than regret it being stolen later.'

Kal nodded. 'True.' he said as he looked at the intricate cypher locks on the front and side of the crate that he could see. 'Even with such quality locks, given enough time by making it disappear long enough, a competitor could break it open eventually.' He looked at the woman, then at the man again. 'You understand I won't tell you the real flight plan in order to avoid anyone interfering during the trip through an internal leak?'

Farusco leaned back against the crate. 'Yes. We would have done the same. We trust the one who named you, so we trust you. We're also sending a few other things with a more obvious armed transport as an extra distraction somewhere else.'

Kal held out his hand. 'Then we have a deal.'

#

'This is it?' asked Saeru as she rounded the crate in the cargo hold of the Reliant when Kal and Viri were on board of Torianne again. 'Hermetically sealed, multiple high precision locks that leave no opening on any side, must be very valuable what's inside if I don't account for the fee we charge.'

Kal stepped out of the back. 'Isn't it always valuable to the client?'

Saeru followed him. 'Yes, but some can go overboard with protecting their possessions. Usually in a financial manner.'

He chuckled. 'It's wonderful to be a freelancer then, isn't it?'

She laughed once. 'All right, it does have its benefits for people like us.'

He grinned at her. 'How's the work on Tori?'

'Major systems are purring like a kitten, but there are many small things that need fixing and take up just as much time. Unless weird coincidences happen, there should be no problem.'

He kissed the side of her head. 'Wonderful. You're doing a great job.'

Tori cleared her virtual throat. 'I do have my repair robots working non-stop as well, you know?'

He chuckled and pat the wall next to him. 'I know. One more way in which you are amazing.'

'Of course.' she said in a matter-of-fact manner, then giggled. 'Thank you. Viri says we're prepared to leave.'

'Good. Tell her she can depart, will you? We'll be on the bridge in a minute.'

Saeru nudged his side. 'You flatterer.' she said and chuckled.

He shrugged. 'Well, she is amazing. Can't deny that.'

#

Two of the huge circular interstellar gates orbited the sun between the planets at opposite side, and Tori informed the others they were close to one of them while they were busy working on her. The gates enabled any ship that couldn't perform interstellar travel to still travel to other solar systems which had a similar gate for a fee. The powerful magic needed for this kind of travel made it a business that struck a balance with the height of their profit and making sure it was affordable enough to keep people using it. The rings were manned by a handful of people and always two or three highly paid wizards working in shifts, who used the lensing construction of the rings and its special materials to strengthen and focus their powers, and send ships to any destination which also had a ring.

Kal picked up the radio microphone on the bridge. 'Transgate One, this is Torianne requesting passage to Ra Omega.'

Static background came from the radio for moment, then the reply came. 'This is Transgate One, passage is available. Send your account code.'

Kal pressed a button on the communications console, and the encrypted code to transfer money was sent.

'Code received, please wait for confirmation.'

'Will do.' said Kal, and put down the microphone and left the bridge because the confirmation on funds transferred from his account to the one from the gate could take up to an hour or even more at the most remote solar systems. Paying in cash was rare but not unusual in those circumstances when someone could afford it. 'Tori? Call us when we have clearance?'

'Of course.' she said. 'Shall I bring us into position when we do?'

'Yes, thanks.'

#

The clearance came quick enough, and while Tori flew towards the centre of the ring, the girls and Kal headed for the bridge. 'We're almost in position.' she said when they arrived.

Viri sat down in the pilot's seat with Saeru in the seat next to her, while Kal sat down at the communications console. He called when they were ready. 'Transgate, we're ready for the jump.'

'All right, jump in ten seconds. Have a good trip.'

Kal put down the microphone and watched the projection of space all around them on the walls of the bridge while Tori counted down to zero on the signal transmitted by the gate. The view became more blurry the closer to zero, then turned pitch black. A ball of red to purple to blue sparks exploded around them and seemingly from Torianne, and the view of another solar system appeared. No matter how often he had experienced it, that moment of the jump still remained as beautiful as ever to him. 'Everything in order?'

Saeru checked the status of Torianne's systems on her console. 'The same as when we left. We're good.'

'No we're not.' said Viri and pointed at the nearest planet. 'This isn't Ra Omega.'

Saeru and Kal looked closer at the image of the nearest planet while Viri zoomed in on it. The planet at this distance from the sun should have been half green and blue like many of the other habitable planets, but this one was mostly grey with ice caps on its poles. Saeru looked back at Kal. 'Did they make a mistake at the gate?'

He turned to the view at the back of the bridge. 'We've been set up.' he said when he spotted the five large combat ships approaching them from behind a small cluster of asteroids. 'It's an ambush.'

Viri sighed. 'Boy, they really didn't waste any time on trapping us. Shall we jump out of here now?'

Kal kept his gaze on the flotilla while he estimated their threat. 'No, they can see us and I don't want them to know our capabilities. We're likely up against a battle cruiser and four fast destroyers but I think we can take them out.'

'They're hailing us.' said Tori. 'I'm detecting a broadcast from them.'

Kal tuned into the frequency that Tori displayed on screen. '..and down and prepared to be boarded, and you might live.' came an unfriendly male voice over the radio. 'I repeat, saucer shaped vessel, you cannot escape. Flee and we will open fire. Stay where you are and hand over your cargo and you might live.'

Kal turned down the volume. 'They want us to stay, eh? All right, we'll stay and let them come close.'

The destroyers spread out while they approached, covering left and right and up and down, and Viri rotated Tori slowly to match the angle of the battle cruiser flying in the middle. 'The cruiser won't manoeuvre fast, but the destroyers will.'

'Not as well as I can.' said Torianne. 'Even if I do say so myself.'

Saeru snorted. 'I'm sure you know that we know that.'

Kal walked towards the projection on the wall and examined the hulls of the ships. 'I'm not worried about flying, but more about the amount of guns they carry.' he said and tapped against the cruiser. 'I suspect they have enough to still do some damage despite our speed advantage if they cover a wider area.'

'I can take a beating now.' said Tori with clear confidence in her voice. 'We'll defeat them long before they can cripple me.'

He chuckled. 'I believe you.' he said and pat the wall. 'I also don't want you to suffer any damage, especially when you haven't even been in top condition yet.'

She emitted her electric chuckle. 'Then you'll need to be a very good shot and disable them as soon as possible.'

He laughed once. 'Guess I'll have to, then.' he said, and went to the weapons console on one side while Saeru went to the other.

'I'll try not to miss either.' she said with a little grin as she activated the console.

'I trust you all to do what you can.' said Tori with a soft tone. 'Trust in my hard shell.'

Viri flexed her fingers around the flight controls on her chair. 'We'll show them a spectacle in their final moments, Tori.'

Kal quickly navigated through the menu on his console, and looked at the oncoming ships. They were close enough to read the name on the cruiser, Impending Doom. 'Heh, at least they have the name of their ship right.' he said and hit play on the list of quick rock music to boost their energy. It opened with a salvo of instruments. 'Let's serve it to them.'

Tori's engines lit up for a brief moment and she shot forward, straight at the command ship.

#

'Evade!' shouted commander Qurro as he watched the unfamiliar saucer fly with great speed towards his ship. 'They're crazy!' The leader of the gang of pirates gripped the armrests of his opulent leather seat while his eyes grew larger in surprise at the lunatic who set a ramming course towards them. 'Shoot them! Shoot them!' His men at the cannon controls opened fire at once, but the saucer had already pulled a corkscrew and rounded his ship along its axis once. 'Follow that ship!' he said while the image on most screens shifted in every direction to find it. He hit the broadcast button to the other ships on the chair's panel. 'Shoot them with all you have! The cargo case is solid enough to withstand a pounding!'

#

'They're turning.' said Kal as he looked at the view at the rear of the bridge. 'Pass and shoot while they're still reorientating.'

Viri turned Torianne around in a tight curve, and Saeru and Kal aimed the two large calibre rotating projectile guns at the front underside towards the nearest ships, and fired at them with great devastation.

#

The crew caught in the line of fire aboard the destroyer Misfit cried out when the bullets ripped through the armoured hull and blasted holes several floors deep. Junes, the captain, gritted her teeth while their supposed victim tore through her ship and in turn suffered little damage when fired upon. She stood up furiously and slammed her hands on the communication console. 'What are you aiming at!? Riddle that ship with every bullet we have!'

The second destroyer, the Wildcard, banked in time to avoid some of the fire, but Saeru spotted a lucky chance to shoot at the engines at the rear, and one of the reaction engines ceased with a loud explosion when she hit it, leaving a thick trail of smoke in its wake.

The other two destroyers took up pursuit at once while firing every front gun at the unexpectedly slippery saucer.

#

'Damage?' asked Kal as he switched to a gun near the top rear of Torianne.

'Minor damage to my hull.' she said. 'It's being repaired right now.'

'Their bullets don't penetrate deep?'

'No. At most one level or wall within my hull.'

'I'm very glad to hear that. For all our sakes.'

'My engines are at greater risk though.'

'That's why we'll still do everything to quickly end this.'

Viri banked left and turned upwards in a wide curve. 'Those destroyers are fast though. We can't outrun them for long unless we leave the scene.'

'I'd like to interrogate the leader of this bunch though.' said Kal.

'You'll have to perform your trick and hope it works if you want to take them down with a few shots.' said Saeru. 'You should know Tori's systems well enough now to do it.'

He went over the chances of success in his head quickly. 'All right. I'll use the two front guns.' he said, and switched his console to the one he used earlier. 'Viri, dodge while I'm condensing.'

Saeru switched her console to her front gun and watched Kal for his sign.

He focussed his ability to stream a tiny bit of magic at high speed into the two barrels, and compressed matter with water and fire at the projectile chambers at extreme densities. Even though he never gained the ability to handle more than the tiny volumes of magic no matter how hard he trained, he kept gaining speed and strength instead. It had great advantages depending on how he used it. 'Viri, fly at the destroyers.'

Viri grinned deviously as she aimed Torianne's nose at their pursuers. 'Surprise them, honey.'

#

The captain of the Bellagron laughed as he watched their prey turn and fly at them. 'Do they really think they can take on all of us? Fire at will!'

The captain of the Mangy Mutt had the same idea, and faced the saucer head-on with a hail of bullets from the ship's guns.

For a moment both captains thought they crippled it when it stopped at a short distance in front of them, then froze in shock when something pierced straight through the entire length of the hulls with ear shattering thunder and explosions of shattered matter. The second hit drove them into a panic, and while they yelled at their men to keep firing on the ship, their own took heavy damage with every shot fired by their opponent.

The Misfit barely made it in time to fire upon Torianne when internal explosions plagued the first two ships, and captain Junes recognised just how much danger they were in. 'Turn away at full speed! Escape!' she shouted when the ship shuddered at the first hit piercing the hull.

'They can't fly! Ram them!' said Qurro as the Impending Doom and the Wildcard came up from behind the crippled destroyers. The large battlecruiser crashed the side of the Bellagron and tore away a large chunk of the hull. The still faster Wildcard evaded the Mutt and aimed for Torianne.

#

Torianne accelerated just before the Wildcard reached them, and a couple of well aimed shots by Saeru from the rear gun wreaked havoc on the remaining engine of the destroyer. The fire from the internal explosions spread fast to the front of the ship.

Qurro cursed loud as Torianne passed close to his ship. 'Don't let them escape! Fire! Fire!'

The battlecruiser turned sluggishly around while every gun and cannon fired at Torianne as it dodged the projectiles.

One of the officers turned from his console. 'Captain! They stopped firing! They're out of ammo or have finally suffered enough damage!'

Qurro took a deep breath at the first bit of good news during the fight. 'Donate our ammo to them! With great prejudice!'

He held onto his seat as the ship banked to follow Torianne and grinned. 'I'll make those bastards pay, as well as our client.'

Another officer jumped up from his console. 'Captain! Intruders!'

#

Before Torianne passed the Impending Doom, she stopped long enough to touch down on the hull, and let Kal and the girls climb onto it and secure themselves with magnetic hooks. Kal pointed at a nearby hatch as he held on tight against the force of the space gas as the hull passed through it at high speed. Kal pulled the opening handle and peered inside as the hatch slid aside. The airlock was empty and they quickly went inside, closed the outer hatch, and dropped their breathing gear. Saeru and Viri pulled out their submachine guns and Kal pulled out his special gun. 'Ready?'