Chapter 43

"All right, it's been four hours and we haven't heard anything. That's long enough. Can anyone feel Patrick or Amy?" Megan saw worried girls around the room shake their heads.

"What if they're already ... We should have gone earlier!" Becky called out.

"They're not dead," Melinda's voice declared.

"How do you know?" Cindi asked.

Melinda gave her patented long-suffering sigh.

"We already discussed this when the babies disappeared, Blondie. Melissa explained it to you. Do you want to waste time going over it again?"

"You call me Blondie one more time and you and I are going to be wasting a lot of time in a very close and personal manner," Cindi said softly. There was no doubt that it was Cindi the Tarqa talking, not a distraught teenager. When Cindi got pissed, it wasn't hard to tell. It was harder to survive, however. Becky and Sammie immediately started moving in her direction.

"Amy calls you Blondie," Melinda protested.

"Amy's my twin. She's earned that right. You aren't. You haven't. Knock it off."

Becky and Sammi reached Cindi and hugged her, trying to calm her down. No one was sure why Becky and Sammi were so concerned; Melinda was a computer and wasn't on the premises, so Cindi couldn't really hurt her. Then again, no one was really sure Cindi couldn't call the Computer-Girl into the room if she was mad enough. After all, she had walked into Amy's body and brought her back ... Lisa was very emphatic that Cindi couldn't do that either.

"I'm sorry, Cindi," Melinda said. "I guess I didn't understand..."

Everyone was distracted when the door opened and Amma-llia strode into the room, rubbing her jaw as if it hurt. She strode across the room rapidly, looking like she was on a mission and wasn't taking any prisoners.

"Knock it off, you two. We got bigger problems than your name-calling. We need to rescue Daddy. Let's get going."

"We discussed this, Amma-llia. You guys have no powers, no colors..." Sammi started to say.

"I'm not Amma-llia, you idiot. I'm Amy." Her eyes reflected a mixture of irritation and awe. "I can't believe the little shit did that to me. I didn't think she had it in her," she murmured.

"Amy! What are you doing here? You were supposed to ... We saw you leave..." Becky looked horrified.

"That little snot Amma-llia slugged me and knocked me out," Amy said. "I'm assuming she left in my place. I can't believe she ... I ... whoever ... hit me!"

"I know," Cindi murmured.

Amy stomped over to her twin and stood in front of her, fuming. Becky and Sammi decided there was a new, more important threat to deal with and turned towards Amy. Cindi faced her furious twin calmly, not seeming to be concerned at all.

"You knew? When did you know?" Amy spat.

Cindi made a show of wiping Amy's spit off her face and stared into her twin's eyes. "I knew when I looked into her eyes. She can fool everyone, maybe even me from a distance, but she can't fool me when I look into her eyes," she said.

Amy was so mad she couldn't speak. Sammi didn't have that problem.

"God damn it, Cindi, are you fucking stupid, or what? Amy was going along to rescue Patrick if things went wrong. Amma-llia doesn't have any of our powers. What the hell is she going to do? Girl, if my Daddy is hurt because of your ignorance..."

"Oh, shut up, Lady Samantha," Cindi replied quietly. She smiled slightly when she saw Sammi bristle even more. "Use your brain for a change instead of your gonads. That girl is smarter than all of us combined. She knew what she was doing."

Sammi started to reply when Amy held up her hand, silencing her.

"Why, Cindi? Tell us what we've missed," she said, all her anger suddenly gone.

"I don't know what we've missed, but you can bet Amma-llia knows. She's not stupid. She knows she has none of Amy's powers and abilities. She knows she couldn't do what Amy was supposed to do. Think about it. If she went, knowing all that, then it's because she knew you wouldn't be able to do what you planned on doing. She went to save your butt, O furious twin of mine. She went so the Empress wouldn't get her hands on the Special One when you couldn't fight back."

"What did she know?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. I bet if we took the time to ask the questions, we would find out these people have been on that ship before ... at least, I bet Amma-llia has. She probably knows something about that ship that would make it impossible for you to complete your mission. We're wasting time speculating. Are we going to rescue Daddy, or not?"

"Fucking A we are," Lori declared.

"Lori, watch your language," Megan snapped automatically.

"Yes, mother," Lori giggled evilly. It was apparent that Loi-llia the Qerda-Killer was in full bloom. Everyone almost felt sorry for the Empress ... almost.

"Do we still have the coordinates for the ship?"

"I can put you in exactly where Patrick and Amy landed," Sarah said. "Are we sure you want to land in the same place if it's a trap?"

"No choice. It's the only coordinates we know. At this point, we have to assume they know we're coming. I suggest we not disappoint them," Megan replied.

"Fu ... duciarily A," Lori said. Megan still glared at her. Lori gave a little shrug of her shoulders, an innocent 'what did I do now?' look on her face.

"How did she knock you out?" Lori asked Amy.

"She's me. She knows where and how to hit me."

"I'd do anything for that knowledge!" Sammi said.

"It'd probably not be anything you haven't done already!" Amy muttered.

"What?" Sammi demanded.

"Nothing. Let's go."

Ten minutes later, the Empress entered the room, right on time.

"Have you made your decision? My men are hoping you refuse my request. They've seen Cindi here on the video feeds and are looking forward to spending some time with her."

"I'd rather fuck a donkey," I snarled, then smiled at her sweetly, "but I guess it doesn't matter, as I'll be fucking a jackass either way. I would appreciate it if we could do it somewhere else where ... Cindi ... doesn't have to watch."

The Empress bristled at the jackass comment.

"I would have, if you'd been respectful. Now I think we'll do it right here in front of little Cindi. Maybe I'll even make you fuck your daughter too. I hear you guys like incest. Who knows, maybe I'll let the guys have her afterwards anyway," she sneered.

Oh shit! Me and my big mouth; what have I done? Oh well, in for a penny...

"Then you can shag your fat ass back out the door right now and bring on the men. I'll have nothing to do with you unless I have your solemn promise that nothing happens to Cindi. Oh, and you better hurry ... I'm not sure your neutralizer room will work on Loi-llia; I bet she's on her way here now. Even if it does, remember your computer system that was mysteriously taken over when your ship was attacked? Who do you suppose did that? I'm sure neutralizer patches don't work on computers."

The Empress looked thoughtful at the mention of Loi-llia's name, then smiled slightly.

"You have some good points. I suggest we compromise. You have something I want. In return for your cooperation, I guarantee Cindi's safety from the crew and I'll let you both go after I'm done."

"You already told me you want two others. I can't see you letting any of us live. Why should I believe you? Why aren't you just taking my sperm and inseminating yourself artificially?"

"The baby is my personal agenda; as far as I'm concerned, that takes precedent over anything the Council of Qerda want. I'll do anything that gets me what I want. We've already tried artificial insemination with other Cornazan males we captured; it doesn't work. Apparently, it happens naturally, or it doesn't happen. I get what I want, I let everyone go. I'm not making any commitments about later; the war goes on. I'll just capture the ones I want again later. In the meantime, you need to hurry; once I have all your family trapped here, I have no need to deal. Make up your mind, now. And for the record, my ass is not fat."

"Fine. Let's get it over with," I said, the disgust thick in my voice.

"Relax, Katoro, you might even enjoy it. I've never had any complaints before," the Empress smirked.

"Were any of them humanoid? I doubt your dog would complain," I muttered, too low for her to hear. Amma-llia giggled.

"What's so funny?" the Empress demanded.

"Nothing. Untie me."

"Daddy, you don't have to do this for me," Amma-llia said.

"Yes I do. How could I tell Amy I let her twin get raped to death?"

Amma-llia smiled at the play on words; she was Amy's 'twin', just not in the way the Empress thought.

"Remember, you still have the neutralizer patch on, so don't try anything stupid," the Empress warned as her guards untied me. I left the room, worried about the undue attention the remaining guards were paying Amma-llia.

"Your guards better not touch her while we're gone or I won't go through with this." I reminded the Empress.

"Oh, shut up. You won't know until we get back and it'll be too late then. Besides, I promised that my crew wouldn't rape her. I never promised no one would."

I'm sorry, Amma, I thought.

An hour later, I was dragged back to my chair and tied up again. I couldn't look Amma-llia in the eye.

"Daddy? Are you all right?" she asked after the guards left.

I didn't respond, staring at the floor.

"Katiro! Are you ok?" she asked again, worry in her voice.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, still not looking at her.

"You don't sound fine. What's wrong?"

I sighed, finally looking at her briefly. I flushed with embarrassment and looked away again.

"Tell me," she begged.

"I'm sorry, Amma-llia. It's just ... I've never had sex before with someone I didn't love. I feel like ... I've cheapened everything I've ever done ... everything I've ever felt for you girls. I feel like I want to puke and then take a long, hot shower."

"Remember the advice you gave A-my when you advised her to accept that ... what did you call it ... fifteen year ceremony? I give you the same advice ... you did this as an act of love for me, to prevent me from being raped. I will never forget that."

"How do you know what I told Amy about that Ceremony? You weren't there, and you never heard of that ceremony."

"I am A-my. I know everything she knows, when I want to retrieve it. You misunderstood. We didn't know what the Ceremony was; that doesn't mean I'd never seen or heard reference to it in A-my's mind. I just didn't understand what that information was referring to."

"Funny how that advice isn't quite as good when you're on the receiving end of it," I muttered.

Amma-llia smiled at me, a sad, understanding look in her eyes.

"I love you, Daddy," she whispered.

Somehow, that helped ... a lot.

"There may be a way out of this," Amma said suddenly.

"What?"

"She turned the neutralizer off in the room but forgot to install a patch on me. I'm not neutralized."

"Yeah, but you have no powers," I reminded her.

"True, but I'm betting A-my and I can connect in her mind, at least once she gets on the ship. That should be close enough for contact."

"She'll still be neutralized when she steps into the room.

"I know, but I still prefer our chances when they're here with us. Something will work out," Amma said.

Eternal optimist ... Amy number two ... or one ... or something. I was getting a headache again.

"Anyone have contact with Patrick yet?" Megan asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"How are we going to find them?" Cindi whined.

"Well, we either search the whole ship, or..." Megan looked thoughtful. "Amy, have you tried linking with Amma-llia?"

Amy looked excited, then disappointed.

"Nothing," she answered.

"Keep trying. Maybe you can find her when we get close enough."

"Yeah," Amy said, her face brightening at the prospect. "Yeah! That should work!"

"I don't understand why we can't find Patrick," Becky objected. "Melinda, are you sure... ?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"But..."

"I'm not going to piss Cindi off again explaining how I know. I'm sure. Shut up about it," Melinda said crossly.

"Let's go. Sarah, Jessica, activate ... now."

Everyone except Christopher, Eric, and the babies disappeared. It had been decided they, Robert, John, Jill and Rhonda would stay behind, as an emergency extraction backup if needed. For perfectly understandable reasons, Hayley Bernard decided to stay behind also.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Had the situation been less serious, I would have laughed at the scrunched up look on Amma-llia's face; she looked like she had to go ... never mind.

"I'm thinking of A-my, trying to contact her or help her contact me," she said. She made another horrible face.

"Right." I grinned in spite of our predicament. She was so cute. Belatedly, I realized she was probably doing it to make me forget what was happening.

"Anything?" the Empress asked.

"No, Your Highness, not yet."

"Keep monitoring them. It's only a matter of time before they think to link with the one we didn't put a patch on," she said.

"You mean Cindi?" the Science Officer asked.

"That's not Cindi. I don't know who she is, but she's not Cindi."

"What if she uses her powers to set them free? She doesn't have a patch on and the field in the room is inactive."

"She won't. She doesn't have any powers. She did a pretty good job of hiding that, but she should've taken out at least two of those guards before the field was activated. They weren't that fast. She didn't because she couldn't.

"Who are you, little girl?" she murmured to herself as she watched the monitor. She wondered ... the Old Chief said the Shal'li'ya couldn't use their own powers. She wondered about the girl in the other room...

Anyone standing in the passageway would have seen the fourteen flashes of light as the girls suddenly appeared in the passageway. One Qerda guard did. Amy whipped her hand across his face and clubbed him across the head with her gun before he could react. She tossed her gun in the air, held him up with one hand while she picked the lock on the storage cabinet with the other. In seconds, she caught her gun as it fell and she stashed him away, the lock jammed to prevent him from escaping when ... if ... he woke up.

"Show off," Cindi grinned.

"Awful lot of trouble for a stupid Qerda," Lori said. "I'd have killed him. You're a softy, Amy."

"Hush," Amy answered. 'Amma-llia?' she whispered in her mind.

'A-my! I'm here!"

'Where?'

There was a pause.

"Got 'em!" the Science Officer shouted.

"As soon as she transmits the coordinates, block her," the Empress ordered.

'I don't know what this means, but the door says F245 D13. Be careful... ' Silence.

'Amma? Amma?'

"I got what I think is the room number where they're being held, but I lost contact with her after that. She said to be careful," Amy said.

"Can I help you?" a voice said from behind them.

The little boy didn't even flinch when fifteen guns {smart aleck Lisa had two! J.} were suddenly pointed at his head.

"She transmitted the room location. I'm sorry, I couldn't cut the connection fast enough to prevent her from saying 'be careful'," the Science Officer said. He waited nervously for the verbal blast he knew was coming.

"That's ok. They already knew that. You did a good job. Let's get to the room by the back way," the Empress said, taking the guards with her.

"They're on their way," Amma-llia said.

"Did you warn them about the room?" I asked.

"I ... think so. I hope it got through before I was cut off."

The young boy glanced at all the people in the passageway. His face lit up when he spotted Lori. He slowly approached her, stopping in front of the little redhead. All the guns followed his movements, but only out of habit. No one seriously thought anything could happen that the fiery little twin couldn't handle. He reached out slowly and took the gun out of Lori's hand, flipping it around and putting it back into her holster before anyone could react.

"You don't need that to deal with me if I try anything stupid. Your pink energy bolt would fry me long before the bullet reached its target," he said softly.

"You know who I am?" Lori asked, astonished.

"Of course I know who you are, Loi-llia. I know everything about you. Reading everything our computer banks have about you is my favorite pastime. You're my hero. What can I do to help you?"

"Do you know how to get to 'F245 D13'? Amy asked.

"Of course. Why would you want to go there? That's not a nice place," he said.

"We're meeting some friends there," Lori said. She was still looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Good luck. I hope they're ok," he said. He reached out and took Lori's hand. "Come on, I'll show you the way."

Lori tried to take her hand away; there was no way she wanted to hold hands with a Qerda boy. He held it fast.

"It's ok, Loi-llia. I doubt I could hurt you anyway, but I never would," he said as he squeezed her hand affectionately. She surprised herself when she squeezed back.

"Why are you helping us?" she asked.

"I know you, Loi-llia; you wouldn't be here if there wasn't a good reason. Someone has to stop this nonsense sometime. It might as well be me." He smiled at her and led her down the passageway. Everyone stared in surprise as the little girl docilely let the Qerda boy lead her by the hand. They quickly recovered and ran down the hallway to catch up.

The boy led them to an elevator, politely holding the door as they entered. After a short ride, they emerged an unknown number of decks lower, turning right as they exited. Five minutes later, they stopped in front of a door labeled 'F245 D13'.

"This is it," he said.

As they approached the door, they noticed that he made no move to follow.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Lori asked, as she tried to lead him by the hand to the door.

"No. We don't enter that room. It's not allowed."

"Why? What's in there?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'll wait here for you."

"Why are you waiting?" Amy asked.

"I have to make sure my friend gets off the ship again safely," he said, smiling shyly at Lori. She smiled back. He impulsively leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Be careful," he whispered.

Lori moved towards the door, her hand absently rubbing her cheek. Her eyes mirrored the confused look on her face. The boy backed away, moving down the hall a short ways.

All the girls looked at each other. Whole volumes passed between them in microseconds. Amy turned the doorknob, opened the door, and walked into the room, Cindi at her side.

"They are coming," Amma-llia whispered. "They will be here in seconds. Then we will go home."

"We have to stop them from coming in, Amma. They'll be trapped, just as we are. We'll all die," I whispered back. I had no idea why we were whispering.

"No. They have to come in. It's the way things have to be. No one will die. It looks like they will, but they won't. It's all right. Everything is going to work out ... for us," Amma-llia giggled. "The Empress is not going to be overly enthusiastic about this, but it will work out for us. Trust me." She smiled up at me, the smile of a little girl that loves her Daddy. For a moment, she wasn't fifteen years old; she was seven years old. I recognized the look in her eyes; I'd seen it so often in Amy's and Cindi's eyes. I was her Daddy, her hero, the one that made the monsters go away, the one that could do anything she needed done. I just wasn't sure how the hell I was going to do it this time.

The door opened and I saw Amy and Cindi slip noiselessly into the room.

The girls spread throughout the room as if they'd practiced it a hundred times. Each girl moved in a seemingly preplanned direction, ensuring that no one was in anyone else's line of fire. As soon as they were all inside the room, the door closed. I saw Amy's eyes open fractionally wider as she heard the lock click.

"It's a trap," Becky said in a calm, measured voice. She didn't seem disturbed at all.

"Absolutely," Julie agreed. She had just finished speaking when a dozen men suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The room exploded into action.

The Empress had decided a dozen men would be enough. It was close ... too close. She was right by one.

Amy and Sammi burst into action, taking out the nearest two men with lightning blows. Becky and Katie shot two more. Cindi took three out with the sword that was instantly in her hands. Four more were shot as they moved into the room.

The Empress' men never knew they were pawns, sacrifices in the game she was playing. All of the men that died were there for one reason and one reason only - to keep the girls occupied while the twelfth man, the only one that mattered, dived for the console. He hit the button that activated the neutralizer, then hit another button that hadn't been used before. Two harmonious hums filled the room as a thin black mist spread throughout the room.

Too late, the girls realized that the man heading for the console was the important one. They all turned towards him, just as their powers and colors died and they froze like statues, unable to move.

The door opened and the Empress walked into the room. She looked around the room, the reluctant respect clear on her face.

"You are good. Very good. You almost made it," she said in amazement. "Too bad 'almost' only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear war ... whatever horseshoes are. Now, we're going to play a little game. It's called 'Identify the Special One'. Why don't we start with you, Katoro. Tell me which one is the Special One."

"Go to hell," I snarled. "I'm not telling you anything. What happened to your promise to let us go?"

The Empress shrugged her shoulders.

"I lied."

"Then find her yourself."

The Empress motioned to one of her guards and he held a gun to Cindi's head.

"Tell me which one is the Special One or I'll kill your daughter," she said.

Everyone in the room believed her.

"That would be a big mistake," a voice said from across the room. The Empress turned to see a twelve year old girl sitting on the console, kicking her feet absently.

"Wh... what? Who are you? How did you get in here? Why aren't you frozen like the others?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Does it matter? I'm here and I'm not frozen. You wouldn't believe me if I told you who I was. Let's just say my name is ... Crystal." For some reason, the girl seemed to find her name funny.

"What do you want?"

"I want to keep you from making a serious mistake. You really don't want to kill that girl. She might be the one you're looking for," she explained, as if talking to a child.

"Fine. I'll just pick another one. There's only a 7% chance I'll kill the one I'm looking for. Besides, daddy isn't going to let me kill any of his girls. He'll give me what I want."

"He might, but I won't," the girl said as she continued to swing her feet as if she hadn't a concern in the world.

"And how are you going to stop me?"

"By making you an offer you can't refuse," 'Crystal' said with a smile.

The Empress gave a long-suffering sigh.

"I guess I've got time to play your little game. Hmm ... and your offer?"

"Let everyone go ... or you'll be sorry."

The Empress laughed.

"That's it? Nothing in return? Provide some show of force to give me a reason to let them go? Bah, you're wasting my time. Kill her," she said to her guards.

Five guards raised their guns to shoot the girl. She watched them with interest, not making any move to defend herself. Just before they pulled the triggers, they simply ... vanished.

"Tsk, tsk. Now you've lost five men. I wouldn't suggest you try that again. It's an awful waste of good men. Besides, don't you want to see my ... what did you call it ... show of force?"

"Show, then," she snarled.

A large holographic image filled the room. It showed the Qerda ships in space around the flagship.

"The ship at the end of the fleet, all by itself there ... what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. There's nothing wrong with it."

The girl stared at her, not answering. She waited a few seconds, then pointed at the communication device on the console.

"Are you sure? You better check."

"Commander, what is the status of ship #35?" the Empress said aloud.

"It's lost normal propulsion, star drive, and life support, Your Excellency. We evacuated all personnel and are sending repair crews to work on the problem."

The girl shrugged her shoulders at the glare she received.

"That's your show of force?"

"Of course not. This is," the girl said casually. The screen was suddenly filled with a huge fireball as the crippled ship exploded. "There ... all fixed. No more engine problems." She wasn't very successful at hiding her giggle.

There were several moments of confusion as reports poured in concerning the destroyed ship. Finally, a shaken Empress turned back to the young girl.

"The weapon you used ... there was no trace of it on any of our sensors. That was the weapon that was used at the Battle of Cornaza."

The girl shrugged her shoulders again, swinging her feet in little circular patterns.

"But ... But you're dead!" the Empress protested.

"Really? Well, you gotta admit, that was pretty impressive for a dead person, don't ya think?"

The galaxy's most powerful military leader took a moment to compose herself, then gave a hard smile.

"You're not fooling me. You only destroyed that ship because there was no one on board. You're a Cornazan; you won't kill innocent lives by destroying an occupied ship that's not threatening you."

The girl grinned.

"Well, you got me there. I didn't think it would work. Sorry, Julie, I tried. I guess she's all yours now." The girl pointed at Julie. "I'd start with that one." Then she disappeared.

"Bring the dark-haired girl over here," the Empress ordered. "I'm sure she expected me to not pick the one she suggested. Therefore, that's exactly who I'll pick." She sounded pleased with herself. "Release her."

The guards dragged Julie to the center of the room. One of them put a gun to her head.

"Tell me who the Special One is," she repeated to me.

"Fuck you," I answered.

"You already did that. Have it your way. Kill her," she said to the guard.

"Wait. That wouldn't be very wise," Julie said.

"Katoro refuses to cooperate. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you ... such as identifying the Special One for me."

"Oh, I'll give you a good reason, all right; not exactly the one you want, but a good reason nevertheless." Julie tossed a little girl's school book bag onto the console. It was pink, with butterflies and hummingbirds pasted all over. "Behold, one very good reason."

The Empress' face turned pale.

"Where did you get that?" she whispered.

"A pretty little girl gave it to me. She's really sweet. We played together and became good friends. Why ... do you recognize it?" Julie asked.

"That's my daughter's..."

"Really? She said her mother was an Empress or something like that, but I didn't think it was you, because she told me how nice her mom was. It didn't sound like you at all."

"What have you done with her? If you've hurt her, I'll..."

"You'll what, Empress?" Julie asked, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Kill me? Kill my family? Kill fifty million of my fellow citizens? Destroy our world? Hunt us down endlessly for centuries, trying to wipe out our race's very existence? Gee, that'd be something new and different, wouldn't it? Oh, but wait ... you've already done all that. You have nothing to threaten me with that would scare me at all."

"What do you want?"

"I would think that would be obvious. Release us."

"Or..."

"Or you'll never see your daughter again."

"You harm her and I will hunt you down and kill you very, very slowly, after I make you watch every member of your family die first in screaming agony," the Empress said in a cold, deadly voice.

Anger flashed in Julie's eyes again.