Chapter 39

ULU SCIMITAR
ORBITING AUSTROVA

To say Asay Va Eldost was teetering on the edge of not believing would have been an accurate statement as she entered the large Mess Lounge. Not believing anything about the Lycavorian people that she had been hearing for all her life. Much of that was attributed to the night of wildly passionate lovemaking she had taken part in just the past evening with the tall, ebony skinned Lycavorian. Her own sky-blue skin shone with vibrancy as it did in any Vanari female who felt fulfilled and so very happy.

Asay was nearing six hundred years old and had been a very good friend with Devra Re Mydala before being voted onto the Senior Board of Regents four years ago. The older woman had impressed Asay with her determination and fearlessness when it came to bringing issues to the forefront. Devra was also not afraid of the SBR as many of the junior Regents were. She had earned her position on the lower Board of Regents with demanding work and the ability to make men and women both see her line of thinking. Asay on the other hand, she had assumed her father’s position on the SBR when he died three years ago in a Lifter accident on his way to his office. He had been tutoring her along as a junior Regent, hoping one day she would rise to his position within their government. As was usually the case when family members were involved in the government and the senior family member died, Asay rose to fill his position.

The Va Eldost family was a very influential family among the Vanari elite, having been one of those who helped to found the capital city. Their assets were many and diversified and while they would never come close to the Re Mydala family and others in wealth, they were still powerful. Asay had unwillingly become the head of that family when her father died and she still mourned his loss every day since his death. Asay Va Eldost was the oldest of her father’s four daughters, all of them with long, shimmering white blond hair and figures that did make most Vanari men drool at the sight of. Unlike her sisters however, Asay Va Eldost was still very much single and had to chase away suitors every day because of her beauty and now her position as a member of the Senior Board of Regents. Asay was also known to participate quite willingly in the Celebration of The Hundreds Ritual, and she had for decades in the hopes of finding a man who she was compatible with as well as one who would love her completely. While she was well known for being very adventurous and sexually desirable, she had never found a man who could keep up with her wants and passions.

That was until last night, when her world and her passions were swallowed whole by one man.

Ardan and the others had been allowed to remain aboard the SCIMITAR for the evening after speaking with the young woman Yssyla and her parents. Yssyla Vol Dumor and her very traditional parents were quite adamant about her remaining on this ship and not returning to Austrova to be examined by Vanari physicians. Ardan and Galar had mentioned the threat of repercussions should they refuse and Yssyla’s father, a senior Vanari Cadre Commando leader, had told Ardan and Galar they would have to go through him to get to his daughter. Asay had remained silent for the most part, watching, as she had during their meeting with the Lycavorian representatives, for unlike the others her mind was not set. Her beloved father had always told his daughter to be observant and make up their own mind on issues. When she was chosen to the Junior Board of Regents he had told Asay to never let herself be influenced by the older Regents who thought that they were superior simply by their age. Asay had remained true to this ideal all of her life and even more so after her father had died. Asay had sat, watched and listened while Ardan and Galar took the lead in questioning Yssyla, while Cruor and his idiotic son Eyon seemingly studied everything around them. Asay was also sick of Eyon continually making lewd comments to her in whispered conversations about how they should spend more time together. Asay was well known for doing wilder things during The Celebration of The Hundreds, but even she had her standards, and Eyon Arn Del was not a man she would allow to take her to bed. She was also the only one who noticed that Yssyla’s father did not appear in the least bit upset that his youngest daughter and a Lycavorian were so deeply involved. He in fact had defended the man several times.

Asay could not sleep after the questioning was over and since it was still late afternoon, and she was hungry, she had left the large and spacious quarters assigned to her in order to find her way back to the lounge she had been in earlier in the day. Within several minutes she was hopelessly lost among the many corridors and different decks. The Lycavorians she saw in the corridors obviously did not feel threatened by them for she had no security outside her quarters and no one had stopped her as she made her way around trying to find some sort of map to assist her. It wasn’t until the tall Lycavorian male with dark chocolate colored skin and wearing a form fitting uniform had approached her that anyone from the ship had come forward to assist her.

Asay was taken with him from the very first moment. He had very short, dark black hair with a perfectly trimmed mustache and goatee. His ice blue eyes were riveting to say the least against the background of his dark, ebony colored skin. Ice blue eyes that had gazed upon her with equal parts unmitigated desire and true respect. His name she learned was Nellian Tyrine, a senior Captain with the Lycavorian Durcunusaan assigned to this ship and perhaps the most physically imposing man she had ever come across. He was far more muscular than any Vanari male she knew and considerably taller at nearly six foot four, yet almost immediately his supreme intelligence came shining through. He kept bowing his head to her as he talked, and she soon discovered he was only fifty years older than her own five hundred and seventy-two years. Asay was captured by his words and the way his voice flittered deliciously across her skin and ignited her senses. He did not treat her badly, something they had been told to expect when they first arrived, but was going out of his way to direct her to the nearest lounge closest to her quarters and then even suggesting some simple drinks that could help her to sleep. Asay didn’t know why she did it, asking him to remain with her and talk, but she was never happier with a decision that she had made in her life.

Nellian Tyrine was incredibly well spoken and treated her with the utmost respect. He answered as many questions that he was allowed when Asay asked him, never once seeming to be hiding anything. It wasn’t long before she was asking about Lycavorian culture and tradition and then his true self came shining forth. Asay discovered that his family had called Sparta home for centuries and they were among the first to take a second name when Martin Leonidas returned to claim his throne. It was something that had become commonplace now among the Lycavorian people as a way to distinguish each of their families, and more and more of the Lycavorian people were moving to add surnames to their families and packs. She could see the pride in his eyes and voice as he spoke of his family, a father who commanded one of the largest fleets within the Union, a mother who was a recognized scholar of Lycavorian history and friend to the King’s revered mother Gorgo. She learned of his seven brothers and sisters as well, of which he was the oldest.

Asay learned more about the Lycavorian people in the three hours that they had talked and picked at the food he had suggested than she had in the previous centuries of watching others among her people interact with them. Nellian had taken the Vanari misconception of his people and tossed it out of the airlock in the space of the first hour. This openness also allowed her to talk of her family as she never had before to anyone. His presence filled her with trust and warmth unlike anything she had felt before. Asay had followed Vanari law as a member of the Board of Regents was expected to and she avoided contact with all Lycavorians if it was possible. Now however, being next to him and listening to him talk had enraptured her like nothing else had in her life. Asay Va Eldost had never been one to act on instinct and emotion yet she could not control her actions and this is what surprised and delighted her the most. It was early evening when, after the rather tasty selection of Lycavorian foods, he had escorted her back to her quarters. He had remained in the corridor while she opened her door and stepped into her quarters before turning to face him.

Asay acted without thinking then, the desire and passion had been building in her since she had first seen this beautiful specimen of a man. She grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him into the large main room of her quarters, slapping her hand down on the controls to close the door. Asay heard the low growl from within his chest and then he was pinning her against the bulkhead of the ship and his warm lips came down on hers with ardent fervor. His kiss alone set her entire body on fire, her Alkay quickly seeping from her pores as her passion rose to a level she had never felt before, her body instantly responding and becoming warm. Nellian was hesitant at first, unsure of what she truly wanted, until her arms wrapped around his broad back and she pulled him against her lush body tightly while trying to get his uniform off him as quickly as possible. She didn’t know how he knew that this had nothing to do with why she was here on this ship, but once he seemed to discover this fact, Asay dropped into a world of blissful abandon that she had never knew existed before. It happened before his kisses stole her breath and her heart away, before his huge, pulsing manhood had filled her more than any man she had ever been with before, and before the most devastating climatic experience of her life rocked her world.

It was before all this that Asay Va Eldost had fallen utterly and completely in love.

Asay had stared at him earlier that morning as they lay in the bed, her light green eyes wandering over his broad and maddeningly delicious muscular chest. She was snuggled against his side, one of her long legs tossed across both of his, her firm breasts pushing against his ribcage as her fingers tracing the line of his strong, even jaw and her white blond hair wildly askew across his shoulder. She had awakened with both of his arms laced around her body and holding her tightly in a protective cocoon. She had never felt such warmth and peace as she had at that moment and she stretched her wonderfully sore body against his even more as she looked up into his face and saw those beautiful eyes watching her. He didn’t speak any words to her, his eyes told her everything she had always wanted to see in a man’s eyes and he kissed her then with all that he was. Asay returned that emotion as she drew his face tighter and held him as he delighted her senses with his kiss.

Asay remembered vividly their conversation.

Asay looked around the lounge hoping she would see him but knowing she would not. He knew this ship and though she hardly knew him at all, she sensed he would not want to pressure her into a decision she could not make by seeing him. A decision she could not make just yet it seemed. She did, however, see Ardan and Galar sitting with Cruor and his son Eyon and after gathering a glass of the sweet tasting juice Nellian had introduced her to last evening from the counter and one of the fruit topped Danishes he had suggested, she moved to the table they sat at.

“ ... Do not know if they will allow us to remove her from this ship.” Galar was speaking to Ardan. “It seems they have somehow influenced her parents as well in this regard. This man Yssyla clings to is never far from her.”

“How were they able to do this?” Cruor asked quickly.

Ardan shook his head. “I do not know ... but even if we wanted to do this and had the personnel to do it ... I fear we would not succeed. This ship is just too large and our Intelligence people have not been able to penetrate the hull of Prince Denali’s ship for weeks. Even our most sophisticated sensors can not pierce whatever jammers they have operating.”

“Does not the size and scope of this ship tell you something?” Cruor asked. “It is a warship through and through. It is twice the size of our largest ships and bigger than anything we have seen within the Protectorate.”

“That we know of father.” Eyon spoke once more.

Cruor nodded. “That we know of yes.”

Galar looked at Asay as she settled to the table. “You should not eat or drink the food they provide to us Asay.” He told her.

Asay met his eyes as she purposefully bit into the Danish. “Trying to poison us in any way is not something they would do.” She stated with confidence as she chewed the delicious tasting Danish.

“We do not know that!” Galar insisted. “I’m quite certain our quarters were monitored in some way!”

“I found nothing.” Cruor spoke again. “I managed to bring a portable scanner aboard and since they did not search us when we first arrived, I used it when they gave me my quarters. It was not able to penetrate whatever composes the metal within this ship as you said Ardan ... but I could detect no listening devices. I could not access the computer in my quarters either.”

“I expected that.” Ardan spoke.

“Why are you so certain that there were any monitoring devices Galar?” Asay asked him.

“They are Lycavorians!” Galar hissed softly. “Nothing more than violent brutes! We should not even be here talking to them!”

It was Eyon who picked up on the vibrant color of Asay’s skin and the brightness of her eyes as well as her hair, which seemed much shiner than normal. These were signs that were exhibited by Vanari females who were filled with passion and desire for a man. Eyon had no idea that man was a Lycavorian that had stolen Asay’s heart.

“You seem ... you seem different Asay?” Eyon finally said.

Asay met his eyes knowing that a pig like him would detect it, but shrugged her slim shoulders indifferently. “I slept rather well.” She answered.

“It’s obvious from what they told us yesterday that they will try and alter the Right of Passage Agreement as well as the many trade agreements we have with the Protectorate.” Galar stated now.

Ardan shook his head. “That will not happen. Alrerin Sha Harael has assured me that he will not allow this.”

“He has remained silent these past weeks for the most part Ardan.” Galar spoke. “Can we count on his support?”

Asay was not stupid by any means and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ardan glanced at her quickly before answering. “We will speak of his support with him when we return Galar.”

Asay made it seem that she was interested more in eating the Danish than listening to them, but she noticed that Galar glanced at her as well before answering. “Of course.” He said softly.

Asay had seen enough men and even some female Regents speaking in such hushed voices and she knew full well it was in regard to something that the vast majority of their fellow Regents had no idea about. Asay Va Eldost decided right there that something was not right. Ardan and Galar were trying very hard to hide something and a sick feeling began to seep into the bottom of her stomach because if it was regarding what she thought it was, the shockwaves it would cause could very well bring down the Vanari government.

“We should...” Ardan began but his words were drowned out by the blaring noise of some kind of alarm. It echoed through the entire Mess Lounge causing the heads of the many men and women to lift upwards as the internal speakers came alive with a female voice.

“ATTENTION SHIP WIDE! ATTENTION SHIP WIDE!”

Ardan glanced up and saw the large Lycavorian moving directly for their table as the voice continued.

“SPARTA’S WRATH HAS ENTERED SCIMITAR’S GRID! SPARTA’S WRATH HAS ENTERED SCIMITAR’S GRID! ALL DUTY ROTATION PERSONNEL REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS! ALL DUTY ROTATION PERSONNEL REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS! WE WILL MAKE CONTACT IN FOUR MINUTES! REPEAT ... CONTACT IN FOUR MINUTES!”

Ardan and the others watched as just over a dozen personnel sitting among the tables rose to their feet and began making their way out of the Lounge with measured and swift steps. His eyes shifted to the Lycavorian who approached their table and stopped beside him.

“Regent Vu Lamurrion?” The young man asked respectfully Asay noticed.

Ardan came to his feet. “What is going on?” He demanded.

“Admiral Sa’sur and Senator Ya’sur asked that I collect you and your fellow Regents and bring you to the bridge.” The young man said.

“Why?” Galar spat as he rose to his feet.

The Durcunusaan officer remained calm and in control Asay noticed. “I do not know the exact purpose sir,” He answered. “However, I would imagine that is has something to do with SPARTA’S WRATH arriving.”

“What ... what is this SPARTA’S WRATH?” Ardan questioned.

“It is the Command Ship for Crown Princess Androcles.” The Durcunusaan officer told him. Asay could almost see the delight in his eyes as he saw their expressions of shock and she had to hold in her sudden feeling of humor at seeing these powerful men so dumbstruck that they could not talk.

“Wait!” Ardan stammered. “Your ... your Prince was not due to arrive for several more weeks!”

The Durcunusaan shrugged his broad shoulders. “Your information was incorrect sir.” He stated flatly. “If you will follow me ... I will take you to the bridge.”

SCIMITAR
BRIDGE

The bridge of this ship was not somewhere they had expected to be shown, but as they entered from a side entrance, they saw a beehive of activity that was extremely well organized and calm. They were all stunned at the complexity of the bridge and its computer systems and this feeling came out in their expressions. Since none of them had ever made a single attempt to

discover how far the Protectorate had advanced technologically, they were not prepared for the level of sophistication on this ship. It matched and even exceeded Vanari technology in many ways just from what they were able to make out around them. Asay had more experience than any of them when it came to technology, and once more Nellian’s words to her last night came rushing to the forefront of her mind.

“We are not so barbaric and backwards as your people believe. And when your people discover this it is going to come as a very big shock.”

Asay Va Eldost and the Vanari people would not be able to deny the truth of his words now.

They saw the elven female Admiral Sa’sur standing on the upraised center platform with Denali Leonidas and Dutkne on either side of her. The four Union Senators they had met with yesterday were standing to the side conversing in quiet whispers among themselves but not afraid of being overheard. Ya’sur motioned to the officer and the Durcunusaan officer guided them across the width of the bridge behind Sa’sur and the others to stand with them.

“Good morning Regent Vu Lamurrion. I trust you and your fellow Regents slept well.” Ya’sur spoke.

“What is going on here?” Arden demanded right away. “This officer told us that your Prince is arriving now!”

Ya’sur nodded his head in recognition while Ulana’s face creased in a scowl of disgust at his arrogance. “Yes ... that is correct.” He replied.

“We did not know this!” Galar spat.

“I wasn’t aware that we had to check with you before this took place.” Ya’sur told him. “You have always known he was coming.”

“We should have been notified that he was arriving earlier than expected!” Galar pressed angrily.

“We never gave a definitive time table as to when Prince Androcles would eventually arrive here Regent Galar.” Senator Pyath spoke. “He is much like his father in that it is next to impossible to predict his actions. He apparently finished whatever business he had to take care of in the Alpha Quadrant and then proceeded here.”

“I need to speak with my office!” Ardan demanded.

Ya’sur shook his head. “I’m sorry ... at the moment Admiral Sa’sur has secured the COM array. She will unlock it when SPARTA’S WRATH is in synchronous orbit with the SCIMITAR so that no accidents happen. It is standard procedure for Union ships.”

Ulana did not allow it to show on her face but she reached for Ya’sur within the Etheric realm. Ya’sur ... this is no such procedure. She said.

Ya’sur chuckled in the connection. Yes ... but they do not know that. He answered. Why let Regent Ardan spoil our surprise by warning his minions?

All of them turned when Sa’sur’s voice echoed above the others. “Look sharp people!” She called out. “Give me a status?”

“Helm is maintaining station keeping thrusters!”

“Communications is standing by!”

“Ops standing by! SPARTA’S WRATH is moving into position one hundred thousand meters off our starboard bow!”

“Tactical is good! Preparing to transfer Grid Control to SPARTA’S WRATH on your mark Admiral!”

“Very well ... stand by Tactical.” Sa’sur answered.

“Incoming non-secure transmission from SPARTA’S WRATH Actual Admiral.” The COM officer spoke up.

“Main holo disc if you would Lieutenant.” Sa’sur spoke.

“Transferring.”

The disc came alive with a soft flare of white light and then the image of the extremely broad and tall form of Armen filled the transmission cone. He wore his newly tailored fleet uniform with red sash around his waist.

-Admiral Sa’sur ... a pleasure to see you again- Armen spoke in his deep, gravelly but mechanical sounding voice.

Sa’sur nodded her head. “Armen ... glad you could make it.” She said with a smile. It was odd speaking to him in such a familiar manner being that he was a machine, but it was growing on Sa’sur quickly. A machine he may have been but he had more than proved his abilities in battle on several occasions and he was certainly like no android or machine she had ever seen. He had spent several hours quizzing her before she left on this trip, all in regard to Androcles and his tendencies. She could have sworn that he wanted to impress him as much as possible. “You are eleven hours and twenty-three minutes late Armen. Did something come up?”

Armen shook his head. –A minor power fluctuation in the dorsal engine nacelle when we exited our last jump. We did not continue so that we could investigate it. It was nothing to be concerned with-

Sa’sur glanced at Denali quickly and then back to the transmission. SPARTA’S WRATH did not have a dorsal engine and the Avatar obviously had seen the Vanari on the bridge and was not about to reveal the true purpose they had been delayed. She nodded her head to him in a show of continuing the farce. “Glad to hear it.” She answered. “I recommend that you drop your Shroud Armen. We don’t want to frighten the Vanari Orbital Control officer.”

-We have already been in contact with him- Armen answered. –He seemed rather excited when I informed him of how much space we would need within his orbital grid-

Sa’sur chuckled. “I have no doubt.”

-Stand by ... we are disengaging our Shroud-

Ardan, Galar and the others could only stare in unabashed shock as they watched the view window and the bulk of SPARTA’S WRATH began to appear, soon blotting out anything else in view as the nearly twenty-two-thousand-meter-long ship un-Shrouded and came fully into view. None of them could hear the many alarms that were blaring across the Vanari ships that were in orbit around their home planet, nor could they see the mass hysteria within the Vanari military command center on Austrova as the enormous ship appeared on their sensors in position with the Lycavorian Command ship just as they had instructed.

Ardan and Galar could not reach the view window quickly enough with Cruor and Eyon as they gaped in disbelief at what was now only a hundred thousand meters from the very ship they were on. Even at that distance it looked as if they could reach out and touch the ship right through the view window.