Chapter 32

"That bitch is dead," Lori whispered in a voice every bit as cold, dead, and expressionless as her eyes. She closed her eyes tiredly, then started to glow a bright pink. I stepped forward and took her in my arms.

"No, Lori," I whispered in her ear. She ignored me, her eyes stayed closed, and she glowed even brighter.

"Loi-llia! No!" I whispered in her ear, more forcefully this time. The glow diminished and her eyes popped open.

"What?"

"I said no," I repeated.

"Why not? She took my babies. Now she dies." Loi-llia spoke as if it was the simplest thing in the world and she was explaining it to a three year old.

"We don't know that, Loi. We don't know what happened. Maybe they wandered off. They've been pretty mobile lately."

She looked at me in astonishment.

"Yeah, and maybe if pigs had wings, they'd be eagles, too, but I kinda fucking doubt it," she said in that snotty, obnoxious preteen voice I had really been hoping we had heard the last of. "Who the hell do you think took them? That bitch has tried to kill us every chance she gets. She's gone too far this time!"

"I said no," I repeated gently but firmly. The astonished look became almost contemptuous.

"Oh wow! Look who's becoming like a daddy all of a sudden. I don't hear from you for years, I get raised alone, Lisa and me, by our 'mother', I watch Mom die, you find me by accident, and now you want to be a daddy to me? Fuck you. Get your hands off me." The last sentence was said in a quiet, emotionless whisper. I figured I had about seven seconds to live.

I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. God, what she said hurt! I don't think I'd ever been so devastated in my life. I loved my girls, all of them, so much it hurt. Not sexually; that I did because I had to, although it was easy to get used to. No, I loved them like daughters, like soul mates ... like Life-mates. To have one of them talk to me like that, even when I knew she said it in anger ... God, it hurt. I knew what she said was true, but it had not been my fault. I hadn't remembered she existed until recently. Tears filled my eyes, then I felt the wind of hurricane Camille cross my path. Before I even opened my eyes, I knew we were a breath away from World War III. It was a war no one would win.

I opened my eyes to see Amy standing in front of Lori. Her eyes were flat and devoid of all expression, green and piercing.

"It would be wise if you kept in mind who you're speaking to," Amy said in a calm, deadly voice.

Loi-llia looked at her as if she was a two-headed alien from Mars. Amy didn't have two heads.

"You're threatening me? Back off, little girl. Back off, Amma-llia, before you get hurt."

Amma-llia laughed, an excited, tinkling, musical little laugh.

"You have no idea who I am or what I can do, little girl. I promise you, if you and I go roundy-go-bump, I am not the one that will get hurt. Back it down, little girl, while you still can, before I back it down for you. Don't you ever talk to him that way again. I won't let it pass next time. The love he has for you is all that's saving your ass right now. Don't push your luck."

I didn't want to think of the power that resided in the two girls facing each other. If this escalated any more, it was a distinct possibility the town wouldn't survive.

The two girls stared at each other for a long moment. Cindi and Becky were moving towards them, with Sammi close behind. Great, let's add more dynamite to the mix. Now I wasn't sure the county would survive.

Amy suddenly relaxed, grinned, and touched Lori's cheek gently. Lori never moved, never flinched.

"Aren't we the wrong sex to be having a testosterone battle?" Amy giggled. The fire went out of Lori's eyes.

"Ah, shit, I can't do anything against you ... Patrick would kill me if I hurt you." She nuzzled her cheek against Amy's hand and kissed it quickly. Everyone knew that was the closest Amy would get to an apology. Amy looked satisfied. Lori looked at me, sadness filling her eyes.

"She took my babies, Patrick. They're the closest I'll ever have to your ... to ever having any babies. Do you expect me to just ignore that?" She choked back a sob.

"All I'm asking is that we see what really happened, Lori," I said.

"Loi-llia, if we find out she took them, Melissa and I will help you," Melinda urged.

Lori sighed in defeat.

"Fine. Do your investigation, but be quick about it. And Patrick ... if it shows she took them, I will kill her!" Lori held her hand up to stall my response. "Don't give me that crap about the Ancient Prophecy and things needing to work out the right way. I don't give a fuck. There are wars and there are things that don't happen even in wars. Stealing babies is one of those things, on the top of the list. She has to pay the consequences. If she did it, she dies, plain and simple. End of story."

"It could put us back in the cycles again," I said quietly.

"Don't care."

"Lori, you didn't even exist in the last cycle."

"Don't care. It'll be worth it to ensure that slimy cunt dies. I'll be laughing as I disappear, my hands choking the last breath out of her."

I glanced inquiringly at Lisa. Her nod told me what I didn't want to hear ... Loi-llia was serious, and she could do it.

Lori smiled at me. I shivered at the coldness of her look.

"Do we have a deal?" she asked.

Amy gave me a tiny nod. It was the best I could get out of Loi-llia. I was lucky she was willing to compromise at all. I nodded.

"Kim, Heather, Christina, Valerie, search the house and the surroundings. Sammi, Cindi, watch over them, make sure nothing grabs them while they search. Becky, Katie, Megan, reach out with your minds ... find those babies."

Melissa hugged her twin computer-girl.

"I'll go back," she whispered.

"You sure? I can go," Melinda offered.

"Nah, you're better with people than I am. I got the easy job; you have to convince him..." She hugged Melinda tightly and kissed her.

"Be careful, Mel. I couldn't stand to lose you," she whispered, choking back the tears. Then, Melissa disappeared.

Moments later, the search party returned; at the same time the other girls' eyes refocused. I didn't need a genius to know it was all bad news.

"No babies," Christina said tersely.

"No sign of them, Patrick. Nothing. We can't detect their minds at all. It's as if they didn't exist," Megan said sadly.

Cindi turned ghostly white.

"Oh God, they're not... ?"

"They're not dead," Melissa answered from above, the disembodied computer voice again.

"How do you know?" Cindi asked, starting to panic.

"Because I'm the genius computer!" Melissa said tersely.

"Melissa..." Lisa warned.

"Because we would detect their death if they had died. That leaves a trace too. Either their colors would go back to Tori-llia, or they would be absorbed by the Qerda. Absorbing by the Qerda would light up our sensors like the Fourth of July now that we know what to look for. Victoria, have any colors gone back to you in the last ten minutes? Didn't think so," Melinda said as Victoria shook her head.

"Then where are they?" Cindi asked, still near panic.

"Lots of possibilities. Two strong ones. They could be in another plane or dimension. We should detect a trace to a portal if that were the case. We don't. Doesn't mean that's not what happened, but it argues against it. The other? The Qerda have them," Melinda finished.

"Why can't we detect them if the Qerda have them?" Cindi asked.

"We've known for a while, although we didn't widely disseminate the knowledge, that the Qerda can block our sensing under certain conditions. We don't have a complete handle on what those conditions are yet. Sorry, Patrick, but it's the most likely scenario."

"Can I kill her now?" Lori asked.

"No. Likelihood doesn't prove anything. We need to be certain before you risk sending us back to the cycles," I insisted. Lori sighed dramatically and stuck her tongue out at me.

Melinda stood in front of me and gave me a hug.

"Katiro, you know I love you more than anyone in the universe, right?"

I nodded.

"Please forgive me ... Katiro, I am officially activating Protocol 159C," Melinda stated.

Lisa gasped. She was the only one of the girls that seemed to know what it meant. I sighed. I knew it was coming sometime; protocols were made to be used.

"Do you accept?" Melinda asked softly. I grinned sardonically.

"Would it make any difference if I didn't?" I asked.

"Not in the final outcome, no, but I would feel a lot better if you agreed and I had your support," Melinda pleaded.

"Do it. It's the only way." I turned to the other family members.

"A state of emergency now officially exists. Melinda has officially taken charge of the family and race until the time when the emergency is resolved. You will obey her as you would me ... hopefully better," I announced.

"Why?" Amy asked. She looked ready to start a war of her own.

"Settle down, Amy," Lisa said. "She's the controlling computer. She has a way to find the babies, but it can only be done by a computer. She'll need to make decisions on a moment's notice without the opportunity to consult us. She needs the authority to do that. Protocol 159C is one of a series of protocols I programmed into the computer to deal with situations that humans aren't designed to handle. It'll only be for a little while."

"Why?" Amy asked again. We hadn't played the 'why' game since she was six.

"Because no human or Cornazan will survive what I have to do," Melinda said. "We're wasting time."

"What are your orders, My Lady?" I asked respectfully.

"Take everyone except Jessica and Victoria down to the basement. They stay with me; I can protect two and I will need their power. Go through the door on the north wall, close and lock it, and don't come out until I call you."

"There is no door on the north wall," Amy objected.

"There is now. Go," Melinda ordered.

No one knew what was going on (I had only a faint idea), but we all wanted our babies back, so we beat feet to the basement and went through the glowing orange door in the north wall. We weren't in there more than five seconds before I felt a strange tingle in my body. I immediately knew that someone was ramping up Leto-Paradeasal balls ... a lot of them. I realized with an awful certainty what Melinda was doing.

"Girls! Get over here now!" The urgency in my voice brought them running. "Huddle together, faces into the middle, close your eyes, and hug each other and me!"

They quickly did as they were told; I soon had girls hugging me everywhere. Seconds later, a massive, intense orange flash, brighter than anything I had ever seen, lit up the area. I heard the earth groan, then everything was back to normal, except for the images of orange balls of light dancing in our eyes.

"All done. You can come back now," Melinda's voice said from the ceiling.

We hurried back to the living room, where everything was as before. Well, almost everything; I had painted that house, and I'm sure I never painted the south living room wall orange.

"Well?" Lori asked.

"They are well and unharmed," Melinda said. Was the computer stalling?

"Where ... are ... they?" Lori asked tersely.

Melinda sighed.

"They're on a Qarta class shuttle, headed for the Khora."

Lori didn't give me a chance to change my mind. She immediately flashed a phosphorescent pink, so bright it hurt our eyes, and seconds later a pink bolt half the size of New Jersey erupted from her, disappearing into the sky.

"Die, bitch!" she whispered.

"God damn stupid fucking BITCH!" the Old Chief shouted as he leapt off the bed and ran out the door. The orange flash had barely faded when he stormed onto the bridge, where he knew he would find the Empress. Two guards tried to stop him.

"You have not been summoned," one said as they blocked his way.

"Move or die," he said calmly.

Feeling threatened, the guards were still bringing their weapons up when the Old Chief, moving so fast he was almost a blur, threw them against the wall, hurled their weapons into the corner, and slammed their heads together. He was standing next to the Empress before they hit the floor.

The Empress looked at him quizzically, a slight smile on her face.

"A little drastic, don't you think?" she asked mildly.

"Tell your people, don't ever stop me from having access to you again. I will kill them next time," he said tersely.

The Empress looked at him strangely, then nodded slightly. The other guards lowered their weapons but continued to watch him closely.

"What the hell did you do?" the Old Chief asked the Empress. He didn't even pretend to show her respect. The guards tensed again.

"Let's talk in the conference room," the Empress said calmly. She headed towards the room without waiting for his answer, motioning for her Advisor to follow.

As soon as the door was closed the Empress turned on the Old Chief, her face a cold mask of fury.

"You ever talk to me in that way again and I will flush you out into space. You will address me with the proper respect if you want to live."

He stared at her, his eyes ablaze and his face a mask of deadly promise.

"You even try to touch me and I will kill all your guards and turn this ship into a radioactive ball of space trash with you in it," he said quietly. "When you earn respect from me, I'll give it to you. So far you've acted like a stupid ass more times than I can count."

The Empress shivered in spite of herself. Then she laughed, covering up her nervousness.

"Ok, we've both made our points and showed how tough we are. Now, what is so important?" she asked calmly. The fire in her eyes warned the posturing had better be over.

The Advisor held his breath, knowing they were at a decision point. His knees were weak. He had never seen anything like this.

"What did you do?" he repeated.

"I don't understand the question," she replied. He could tell by the look in her eyes she was lying.

"I assume you saw the orange flash that just occurred? It would have been hard to miss," he said sarcastically. "That was a Sacastian Locator Beam. Legend says it was used often by the Ancients. It's a close relative to the Phoenix, except it hasn't the destructive effect on the surroundings that the Phoenix does. It requires a source of power our minds cannot even grasp. In our times it has been used only rarely, and then only by the Cornazans. They use it to locate a member of their race that they have lost contact with. Since they never just 'lose' one of their family members, I ask again ... what did you do?"

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal of this. I've made no secret of my desire to capture a set of Cornazan twins. Now I have."

"That doesn't explain the use of the locator beam. They would just wait patiently for the captured twins to take your ship apart and walk into the rubble to lead them back home." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Which twins did you capture?"

"I believe their names are Jenna and Kara," she said innocently.

The Old Chief's face paled as he steadied himself against the table.

"Oh my God! You ... you took the babies?" he whispered.

"Of course. It was a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself. We can train them the way we want, and they're too young to try to escape. It'll demoralize the others and they'll meekly surrender when I demand it to get their babies back. Of course..." she left the rest of the thought unsaid.

"Oh my God," he repeated. "Can you possibly be any more stupid? I cannot believe you are waging war with a race when you don't know the slightest thing about them." He raised his hand to halt her response. The Advisor was surprised that she allowed him to continue. He wondered how long the Chief had left to live.

"Listen and learn, not that it will help you now. Lesson number one: don't mess with their babies, ever, especially if they are really babies. It's the one thing they will not tolerate and will not forgive. You have mere moments to live. They'll tear this fleet apart, kill you, and may even destroy your home world.

"Lesson number two: those babies may be the most dangerous beings you have ever laid eyes on. Assuming the Cornazans let you live after today, it would be to your extreme benefit never to come near those babies again. I can't even begin to count the ways they could kill you with nothing you could do to stop it. That's assuming you even knew it was occurring in the first place, which is unlikely. Don't ever be foolish enough to think Jenna and Kara are helpless babies."

"Are you trying to scare me?" she asked contemptuously.

"You better be terrified."

"I think you rate these people much too highly. They hardly resisted at all when we destroyed their world. We've had our way with them ever since. I've seen no evidence of the fierceness you claim. They do appear to be good fighters, but..."

"Then wait about five more minutes, Your Highness. That's about how long it's going to take them to arrive here and show you that fierceness. By the way, I wouldn't call the destruction of thirty-five of the finest Qerda warships in existence at the time by one person 'hardly resisting'."

The Empress' smile faded as she remembered the Battle of Cornaza.

"If you insist on committing suicide, I would appreciate it if you would do it in a manner that doesn't take me with you." His eyes suddenly looked distant. "You better get back on the bridge. You're about to learn what a furious Cornazan can do."

The Empress opened her mouth to respond when she was interrupted. Small red lights in each corner of the room began blinking rapidly.

"Tarnaki Qu! Tarnaki Qu!" the loudspeakers intoned urgently.

"Your Majesty, please come to the bridge immediately. We have an emergency!" the Commander's voice requested.

They quickly returned to the bridge, arriving in the middle of a very organized but very urgent chaos.

"Red Alert! Red Alert! Defensive condition four! Shields up, maximum power! Activate armor cladding stage four! Maximum charge on weapons now! Prepare for impact, galactic force! Marines, prepare for hostile boarding! All conventional engines and star drive at readiness stage four immediately! Medical, activate for massive casualty protocol! All sensors, maximum power, quadrant three!" The Commander paused for a breath.

"Report, Commander," The Empress ordered.

"Your Highness, we have detected a huge energy spike on Earth. It appears to be pointed in this direction. If it's who I think it is, we may be in big trouble. We're running it through the computer now."

"Who... ?"

"Identity confirmed, sir," the aide said to the Commander, handing him a piece of paper. The Empress smiled; it was by her insistence that the crewmembers were trained to ignore her and interrupt anytime it was important to the safety of the ship.

The Commander looked at the paper, then swore softly under his breath.

"Loi-llia," he muttered.

"Alert! Alert! Energy anomaly detected! Positive Doppler shift recorded! Inbound energy anomaly detected!" the computer intoned. "Energy beam approaching, speed undetermined! Energy signature in excess of 10²³ terrawatts. Phase wave length indeterminate, positive anti-shielding phase wave shifting confirmed!"

"Oh shit," the Commander whispered. "She ain't playing this time!"

"What does that mean?" the Empress asked.

"It means the wavelength shifts from our shield frequency as soon as we lock on. It means that beam will slice through our shields like a knife through hot butter if she knows what she's doing. There's one thing we can always count on in this universe; when it comes to destroying things, Loi-llia always knows what she's doing. An energy beam of 10²³ terrawatts is enough to turn this ship into a charcoal briquette in a very short time. " He looked at the others, a little smile on his lips. "I don't know what you did to piss her off, but I really wish you hadn't done it."

The first beam had barely cleared the ceiling when Loi-llia sent the next one on the way.

"I need the code now, Melinda," Melissa said.

"Of course. Send the following on the 1200 mhz frequency ... gamma-epsilon-46-19- delta- beta- 29."

"Code sent," Melissa confirmed.

"What was that for?" I asked.

Melinda gave an evil little grin.

"All hands, brace for impact! Ensign, get those shields as high as they'll go. Redline them!" the Commander ordered.

"Yes, sir. Shields redlined."

It was alarming to see the energy beam grow in size as it sped towards them at unbelievable speed. It seemed awfully ominous for something that was such a pretty shade of pink.

"Shields are down!"

"What?"

"Shields are down, sir!"

"What do you mean, shields are down? Why? Get them back up, now!

"Working on it, sir. The shield generators aren't responding. They've gone off line."

"How long?"

"Five minutes."

"We won't be here in five minutes, Ensign! Get them up, now! Lieutenant, get us out of here! Anywhere, I don't care where."

"Yes sir. Firing main engines ... no response, engines are off line, sir."

"Give me star drive now, any destination!"

"Executing ... star drive is off line sir, no response."

"Hold on!" the Commander said unnecessarily as the pink beam struck the port side.

"That was the access code to the main computer of the Khora. It is now obeying Melissa's commands and ignoring the commands of the Captain. Their shields are down and their engines are offline," Melinda explained.

"Bad computer-girls!" I admonished the twins.

"Hey, if you're gonna fight, fight to win," Melinda shrugged.

The huge ship shuddered sickeningly as everything was enveloped in a brilliant pink color. Pink sparks and flames erupted from several places along the side of the ship. The ship rolled through 30 degrees before the dampers stopped it.

"Damage report!"

"Hull breach, deck four, port side. Main shield generators heavily damaged. Fires out of control on decks four and five. Heavy damage to main engine rooms. Coolant leak in fuel cell containment room, cells overheating. Massive casualties on deck four."

"Well, that takes care of bringing the shields back up," the Commander mused to himself.

"Prepare main batteries for return fire!" He was as calm as if he were taking a walk in the park.

"How can you be so calm? You're going to fire back at Loi-llia, on earth?" the Advisor asked in amazement.

"Son, I've hoped all my life that I would die in combat. Either I get my wish, or I win this battle. Either way, I get what I want," he said almost cheerfully. "Why not? She fired at me."

"Main batteries off line and not responding, sir."

"LOCA! LOCA, power cell three," the computer declared urgently. "Anti-radiation door seals positive ... now! Main power cells scrammed ... now! Negative pressure in power cell three ... now!" The lights flickered briefly before the emergency generators came online.

"What's a LOCA?" the Advisor asked fearfully.

"Loss of Coolant Accident. The main power cells are in danger of melting down or exploding. Scramming the cells prevents that ... usually."

"And if not?" The Empress asked.

"If not, then this system will have a third sun. Ensign, where are we on getting those systems back up?" he asked.

"Nowhere sir, unless you can give me the Administrative Command Override Password ... sir."

"WHAT?"

The Ensign pushed a few buttons and a young female voice came out of the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, that command is not allowed under the present configuration. Please enter the Administrative Command Override Password to gain access to that module."

The ship shuddered violently as the second beam blasted through the hole made by the first beam. The bridge crew watched helplessly as the middle of the ship exploded in pink flame. When the blast flash died down, most of the port side was open to space. They watched in horror as bodies floated out of the massive hole.

The Old Chief blinked as he heard the voice over the speakers denying computer access. He turned his back, pulled a small device out of his pocket, and typed furiously on it for a few seconds. He put it back into his pocket and turned around to face the others again.

"Sir, there's a third beam on the way,"

"We won't survive a third hit," the Commander said sadly. He loved this ship. He hated losing it more than he hated dying.

"Holy shit!" Melissa exclaimed. "Melinda, link with Tori-llia and Ja'a-llia! Give me every watt of power you can, Leto-Paradeasal, Colors, I don't care what! Do it now! Computer, raise shields to the Khora, now!"

"Melissa... ?"

"Do it now! I will explain later! Get me that power now!"

I winced in pain as Victoria and Jessica turned incandescent. I couldn't begin to count the number of Leto-Paradeasal balls that slammed into Melinda {Melinda counted 245 of them. J.}.

"Computer, get those shields up, now!" Melissa ordered.

"Negative. Shield generators are heavily damaged."

There was a brief pause.

"Computer, cross link terminals 245 and 115. Throw switch 29, then activate power cell 14. Finally, throw switch 223."

"Negative. That will overload the fuel cells and the ship will explode."

"You're going to explode in 7.2 seconds anyway. DO IT!" Melissa ordered.

"Done ... shields are up, redlined!" the computer announced.

That's when I realized Loi-llia was ramping up for a fourth beam.

The Commander watched in awe as the third wave closed the distance to the ship faster than his mind could comprehend. Just before impact, he heard the sweetest sound he could imagine.

"Command lockout terminated. Shields up, maximum power, redlined," the computer announced.

"Thank you, Ensign," he murmured. "Even though it's too late."

"I didn't do it, sir."

The ship shuddered slightly, but nothing like the previous hits. There was a beautiful aurora display on the screens but no further damage was done to the ship. The Commander frowned.

"That beam should have pushed us over the edge, even with the shields up. Ensign, what's the reading on the shield strength?"

The Ensign looked at the screen, then looked at the Commander, his face white, his eyes wide in astonishment.

"Sir, it's ... it's 10²⁴ galactiwatts," he whispered.

"That's ridiculous, Ensign. We don't have that much power and our screens won't project that number. I'm not even sure what a galactiwatt is."

"I don't know either, sir, but we have it and our screens are projecting the number just fine!"

The Old Chief smiled to himself. He loved Melinda and Melissa, bless their computer-girl brains! He wiped the smile off his face when he saw the Advisor looking at him strangely.

Loi-llia was ramping up for another beam when there was a flash of light and my Mother appeared in the room.

"Lori, stop!" she ordered.

Lori ignored her.

"Loi-llia, I said stop, now!" Mom barked. At the same time, a small gray ball of energy left her and hit Lori in the side. It wasn't strong enough to hurt her, but it got her attention and she opened her eyes in shock.

"Gramma?" she squeaked.

"Stop it, Lori, stop it right now. Not another bolt, young lady, or I'll give you a spanking you'll never forget."

"But ... but Gramma, they stole my babies!" she sobbed.

"I know honey, but you have to stop or we'll never get your babies back," Mom explained.

"How does stopping get them back?" Lori asked.

"Where are the babies now, Lori?" Mom asked.

"In a shuttle, headed for the Khora."

"Right. If you destroy the Khora, where will they be then? Where will the shuttle take them?"

"I ... don't know," Lori said, suddenly scared.

"Exactly. Right now we know where they are and where they're going. Destroy that ship and we're back to square one. Don't you think it would be better to know where they are?"

"But ... but I want my babies back, and I want that bitch dead," Lori protested.

"We'll get your babies back, Lori. I promise you we will. There's a better way. As for the Empress dying, that's not up to you or me. I think she'll wish she were dead, though."

The shuttle was a thousand miles out from the Khora when the flagship exploded in flames from the first hit. They had closed to half that distance when the huge ship shuddered and almost died from the second beam. By the time they were ready to land, most of the ship, including the landing bay, was in flames.

"Shit," the Captain muttered. "Where do we go now?"