Chapter 1

"Somebody shut off that bluking alarm!" roared the Captain.

The undulating whooping of red alert had been sounding ever since the Grok battle cruiser had come within sensor range and begun to close the distance. At last the sound abated to everyone's relief.

"DCC, what have you got?" demanded Captain Erott Darknok of his Data Control Center where the ships sensors were monitored.

"Grok cruiser, battle class at 7 lights and closing, sir," came the reply on the ship's intercom.

Captain Darknok knew that the Grok cruiser was still well out of range, but at the enormous mismatch in speed of the two ships it would not take the Grok long to overtake them. Seven lights ( the distance light travels in seven minutes) meant they would be in firing range within a single galactic hour.

"Any friendlies?" asked the imposing figure on the bridge.

"No sir. The nearest friendly is an Altarian space station orbiting Toondal 5 in the Belarius sector. The Grok will overtake us long before we can..."

"All right, I understand," grumbled the Captain and commander of the GAES (Galactic Alliance Expeditionary Scout) Regis, a small research vessel used for charting unexplored regions of space and diplomatic contact with newly discovered life forms when necessary. Their current mission was in the Altoid Cluster of ring planets in the Vagan region, far from the war, or so they thought.

"What in blazes are the Grok doing way out here? We have no military presence in this region?"

"No sir," answered Anserk Dontil, Earther, one of only three aboard the Regis, and second in command, "but the Ravic have had outposts in the outermost reaches for some time and now that they are allied with the Grok..."

"Yes, one more thing for the Alliance to worry about," mused the Nordqua, stroking the long facial hair characteristic of his species. The war with the Grok had been going badly before, but now with new allies helping their enemy, the Alliance would be hard pressed to stop the relentless advance of the Grok to whom war was not only a method of conquest, but a way of life. The Grok had been expanding their frontiers as long as anyone could remember and always by ruthless conquest.

The Nordqua Captain looked for a long moment at his first officer. Earth women were not considered particularly attractive by his race, but he knew of the stories of what the Grok did to Earth women. Their barbarity was infamous across the twelve inhabited galaxies.

"Helm, all ahead flank critical."

" Sir," came back the reply on the intercom, "at flank critical the masotronic generators will..."

"Yes, I am aware of the irreversible damage to the engines, Ensign. Our only hope is to prolong the chase and hope that help will arrive."

He turned to his communications officer.

"Sarwin, issue an emergency distress call on all channels. Indicate we are an unarmed vessel being pursued by a Grok battle cruiser and request immediate aid."

"Aye, sir," said the other female on the bridge, a Zarwinian, her bulging double lidded eyes blinking once as the seven long and slender fingers of each hand danced over the communication controls.

"Message being sent on all channels in all known languages and Galactic Universal," she replied.

Captain Darknok glanced at his communications officer. At least she would die quickly along with the rest of the crew. The earth women were another matter.

"Captain... permission to bring Ensigns Andarus and Clovis to the bridge," requested his first officer.

"Yes, Lieutenant, perhaps that would be a good idea."

The first officer clicked open the ship's intercom.

"Ensign Andarus and Ensign Clovis, report to the bridge immediately."

"Any ideas, Lieutenant?"

"I think they... we... should be given the choice Captain."

"Yes, you're right, of course, he sighed.

"Sir, do you intend to resist?" asked Lt. Dontil noticing the screen which revealed the Grok cruiser gaining on the small research vessel.

"What choice do we have, Lieutenant? The Grok take no prisoners... except..."

"Yes, Sir... except for Earth women. We haven't got much with which to put up much of a fight."

"We'll keep our stern to them and use the meteor blaster."

"Sir, that cannon is only fit to break up small meteors. It won't even make a dent in their shields.

"I know Lieutenant, but it's all we've got. We'll also issue hand blasters to all crew."

"Sir, the Grok body armor..."

He knew it was futile. Each Grok stood an imposing eight to nine feet tall with bulging muscular body. Their plated body armor could repel anything except a direct hit with a 7.2 Kryton rifle of which there were none aboard the Regis. The Alliance hand blasters would harmlessly bounce off the dense photogravataic plates. The only chance was to get a lucky shot under the plates where it would find unprotected flesh. Even then the charge was fatal only about half the time.

The Grok, on the other hand, used clumsy, but highly potent Cylenium dischargers which could cut through six inches of reinforced Dyburnimite. The meager body armor the Alliance wore offered about as much resistance to the Grok weapons as a sheet of tissue paper.

Darknok turned to find the two Earth ensigns had arrived on the bridge. Lieutenant Dontil joined them, the Captain relieving the other officers on the bridge so the four could talk privately.

"Ensign Clovis, Ensign Andarus -- I suppose you have heard by now that we are being pursued by a Grok battle cruiser. We are running at flank critical speed, but even so, the Grok will overtake us in less than an hour. We have no weapons to mount an effective defense of the ship, so the reality of the situation is that we can expect the ship to be attacked and boarded. As you know the Grok take no prisoners... but they do take prizes. I am sure you are aware of their fondness for Earth females."

He saw the fear in the eyes of the two Ensigns.

"I intend to blow up the ship as soon as our position becomes untenable, but if that plan fails, the Grok will have the ship... and you."

The two young Earth females looked at each other their eyes wide with shock.

"Lieutenant Dontil has a proposal. It has been offered before to Earth women aboard Alliance vessels in danger of falling into the hands of the Grok. Lieutenant," he said, Dontil stepping forward and addressing the two junior officers while the Captain retreated across the bridge.

"Hopefully, the Captain's plan will take a few Grok with us when the ship self destructs, but in the event that plan fails, I propose the following," she said, holding out two capsules. "You may swallow this Diantide pill now which is quick and painless and can absolutely rule out any possibility of your being captured by the Grok... or you may choose to help defend the ship, perhaps take out a Grok or two, then If capture is imminent you may turn the blaster on yourself."

She saw the doubt written on the faces of both women. One of Vishi's best friends at the academy had been aboard the Mirus when the Grok disabled, then boarded her. The young woman had held the blaster to her stomach as she pulled the trigger, but not before she and her fellow crew mates had accounted for at least a half dozen Grok.

"I... want to take out a Grok if I can before I'm done, Lieutenant," said the attractive Auburn haired Ensign Andarus. "If I can't for any reason pull the trigger myself, I want you to do it."

"I feel the same way," added Clovis. "Please Lieutenant, whatever happens, don't let the Grok take us."

"All right then, the three of us will stay together. I propose a pact -- that if for any reason any one of us is not able to turn the blaster on herself, the other will do it before taking her own life. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the two younger officers replied.

"We'll fight Captain," said Dontil, turning to the Captain.

"Very well. Lieutenant, assemble the crew."

"Aye, Captain," she responded walking to the intercom control.

"All hands assemble on the bridge immediately. I repeat, all hands to the bridge immediately."

Soon, all twenty-two officers and crew were assembled. Although the Regis was a comparatively small vessel, she still was over one hundred centons from bow to stern, but unlike the fanciful Earth science fiction television and motion pictures of a couple of centuries ago in which ships were fancied as carrying hundreds, even thousands of crew, the ships of the twenty-fourth century were almost totally automated and self regulating, thereby requiring a minimum of humanoids. The Grok battle cruiser, although ten times the size of the Regis would still have a crew of less than a hundred.

The Captain turned to the assortment of humanoids who crewed his vessel.

"By now you all know that a Grok battle cruiser is closing on us. They will be in firing range in less than thirty GM (galactic minutes). We will wait until the last moment to use the cannon. Brius?" he said, turning to the Lieutenant who manned the gun when it was necessary to destroy or deflect a meteor or asteroid. "You'll probably only get one shot, maybe two. When they approach, I'll try to take us under them. Their shields are damned good, but slightly weaker under her keel. Target their propulsion baffles."

"Aye, Captain," replied the Dovinian.

"Sir, what about assistance?" asked a female Willonian.

"We are transmitting distress calls constantly, but the chance of rescue is virtually nil. However, since there is a remote chance that someone might come to our aid, I have decided not to engage the self destruct program until the very last moment. It would be tragically ironic if help did arrive only moments after our atoms have been scattered across the sector. The ship itself is of virtually no use to the Grok and we are already erasing all data banks even though our mission here has been research and not military, but they will board to take anything they deem of value."

Despite their attempts to the contrary, several of the crew turned to look at the three Earth females who avoided their stares.

"Lieutenant Dontil, Ensign Clovis and Ensign Andarus could have opted otherwise but have decided to fight alongside the rest of us."

"Captain?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Dontil."

"Sir, the two ensigns and myself have formed a pact not to allow ourselves to fall into the hands of the Grok. I would ask of the rest of the crew that if you see we are about to be taken captive by the Grok use your blaster on us."

Her eyes scanned the faces of the twelve different alien species which made up the crew of the Regis.

"We've served together on Regis for almost two galactic years. We have all become close. More than friends, we have become like brother and sister. We, Ensigns Andarus and Clovis and myself ask that you honor us by making sure we do not have to submit to the barbarity of the Grok."

"So ordered," pronounced the Captain to the sad, but understanding acceptance of the crew.

They were quickly divided into teams, each team assigned an area of the ship to defend when the Grok boarded the small research vessel. The three Earthers were given the responsibility of guarding one of the three accesses to the bridge where Captain Darknok would eventually push the button obliterating the ship and all within it.

Hand blasters were distributed and the crew teams grimly dispersed to their positions.

"Any chance Brius could get in a damaging shot?" asked Clovis.

"Slim and none and Slim doesn't live here any more," answered Dontil. You'd have more luck bringing down a charging Lasarian Worsook with a dart gun."

"Then why... ?"

"Because it's all we have. We can't ram because of their repulsion fields. That leaves us with a pea shooter and some spit balls," she said, indicating the blaster in her holster. "We go down fighting and maybe we can take a few of them with us. Are either of you qualified on the J-21?" she asked, withdrawing the blaster and indicating they should do the same.

"Back at the academy," replied Vishi, examining the meson phaser pistol. "I haven't fired one in over four years."

Vishi Andarus had majored in alien environmental science at the academy back on Earth, graduating with honors, serving an internship aboard the Zerxes before transferring to the Regis for the five year mission to the Vegan region and the unusual cluster of ringed planets and their fascinating flora and fauna. The beautiful twenty five year old had just returned from a surface trip to one of the larger planets, discovering a new variety of subterranean ergomites when the red alert had sounded.

"Same here," replied Meena. The pretty blonde, four years younger than Vishi, was serving her extended internship in propulsive engineering aboard the Regis. Like all Earth female officers and crew, her hair was cut short in an attractive style which two centuries ago might have been called a wedge. She withdrew the weapon at the Lieutenant's nod.

"OK, a quick refresher course. Each charge pack gives you fifteen shots with a seventeen millisecond charge time between shots. The charge pack pops out here," she said, releasing the small energy pack. "Then just be sure the red end of the new pack goes up into the handle. Once it snaps in place, you've got a fresh fifteen. Check the safety and be sure the intensity is set to maximum."

"What part of their body should we go for?" asked Vishi, her vivid green eyes narrowing as she contemplated, for the first time, the killing of a sentient being.

"Don't waste your ammo on anything but bounce shots. Aim for the floor and try to bounce your shot up under the armor plates. It's a long shot, but the only one you have. There will be a great urge to shoot at their visors, especially when they get close, but these hand blasters will just bounce off. So keep your cool and keep bouncing your shots off the metal flooring. You might get lucky."

Vishi and Meena traded glances which expressed the hopelessness of their situation.

"And remember to save one for yourself, " said the attractive officer.

There was a meaningful exchange of looks as the reality of what they faced was finally beginning to sink in.

"Sir, Grok battle cruiser now within firing range and closing. His weapons are charged... and he's hailing us," the three heard through the open airlock leading to the bridge. The airlock would be sealed as soon as the firing began.

"This is Captain Erott Darknok of the Alliance Research Vessel Regis, " said the commander looking to his view screen.

The figure which appeared on the screen was indeed imposing. Virtually filling the screen, the Grok's massive, rock hard features were mildly reminiscent of the Klingons, a warlike race which had once been Earth's enemy when Earth was part of the old Federation of Planets, long since absorbed into the Alliance. The Klingons, as Alliance members, were now allies, but their fierceness and love of battle was still renowned across the galaxy. Yet the Klingons had twice met the Grok with disastrous results. Although fighting bravely, the Klingons had been no match for the Grok which decimated their fleet and in hand to hand combat the Klingons suffered an eighty percent casualty rate to only sixteen percent for the Grok. There was an unconfirmed rumor that the two races had evolved from a common ancestor in the remote past. Although the Grok stood at least two feet taller, their body structure did resemble the other. Massive muscular build with high forehead and heavy overhanging brow, broad, flat noses, thick lips, thick dark skin and pointed almost dagger-like teeth. But even the Klingons, as fierce as they were, had always been guided by a sense of warrior honor, making prisoners of their beaten enemies and treating their defeated foe as worthy of fair and decent treatment.

But the Grok exhibited no such characteristics. Besides their renowned tactics and rapaciousness, they exhibited no mercy whatsoever for those they defeated. The Grok took no prisoners, executing those who ceased to resist and wantonly defiling the enemy's women before selling them into sexual slavery. While they raped virtually all humanoid captive women, the Grok seemed to favor the Earth women, perhaps because Earth had been the first member of the Alliance to defeat the Grok in battle, but also because the Earth women's bodies were so very satisfying to the gigantic, over sexed, conscienceless beasts who often killed the Earthers simply by copulating with them, the defenseless females often hemorrhaging to death after their bodies had suffered impalement by a monstrous phallus three to four times the length and girth of a well endowed Earther. Those who did not die immediately, were sold to the highest bidder and lived very short lives thereafter as prostitutes and the sexual toys of the rich and perverted of the galaxy.

"Captain, surrender your ship and I will see you and your crew will die quickly and painlessly."