A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution (39 page)

Leo looked at her, glanced at Victoria, and said, “The Play Toy needs you to command it.”

Victoria spoke before Desiree could answer, “Gem is going to command the ship.  Jack will pilot it and you know he’s one of the best pilots we have.  We’ll be ok.”

“The Thermopylae and Play Toy are the most powerful ships in the Pirate’s Fleet.  They are going to have to take on the head of the Romanov spear,” Leonidas said shaking his head.  I’m not sure this is a good idea, Victoria.

“I know.  But we can handle our end; you know how brilliant Gem is.  The two of you should be together for what time remains.  My crew and ship is ready for what’s coming.”

Leonidas smiled and said, “It’s been a real pleasure working with you, Victoria.”

“I wouldn’t be alive except for your and Desiree’s taking care of me.  Desiree walked over to Victoria and hugged her.  I’m sorry about your sister and nephew.”

“I’m surprised Serge waited this long to kill them.  Kenny sent word to Tortuga that she was murdered yesterday.  Now, I’m an orphan and alone.”

Leonidas shook his head, “No, you’re not.  Kenny is your biological father.  He’s been watching over you for years.  Serge forbid him from telling you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.  His wife left him and disappeared.  She sold you to Romanov.  Kenny found out and took the position on Kellinger to have the opportunity to occasionally see you.  I’m sure his heart is also broken over the death of your sister and his grandson.”

Victoria lowered her eyes and sighed, “That’s how you knew he wouldn’t tell Serge that you were the one with me at the bank when we delivered the Trillium.”  Leonidas nodded.  “Well, thanks for telling me. I’m headed to the landing bay to take a shuttle back to my ship.  I suspect the Unity President will be making an announcement shortly.”

Leo stood up and hugged her, “I admire you, Ana.  You’ve grown so much since I first met you and have become such a strong and beautiful woman.”  Ana returned his hug and then turned and left the bridge.  Leo watched her go and looked at Desiree, “It will be good having you on board.  I can use your help in getting things organized.”

Desiree nodded with tears in her eyes, “I look at Ana as the sister I never had.  She’ll hold up her end of the fight.”  Leo went to Desiree and took her in his arms.

Embree blew out a long breath, “A message has just gone out on the frequency used by the Unity to communicate with all of its citizens.  It’s saying an important announcement will be made in ninety minutes and for every planet to connect the broadcast to all communication devices.”

“Is the Braxel at Cruet?”

“It is, Captain.  It’s moved off the filament and is in normal space watching the planet.  If anything happens, we’ll know as soon as it does.”

Leo looked at Desiree, “Please come with me to my quarters.  We need to discuss how we’re going to handle this.  Embree, contact me when the President begins his address.”

“Yes, Sir.”  Desiree followed Leonidas off the bridge and knew they were not going to waste the remaining time discussing anything.

• • •

Victoria exited the shuttle and lifted her communicator, “Gem!”

“I’m in my quarters.  Meet me there.”

“On my way.”  Victoria arrived at Gem’s quarters and went straight in.  “Gem?”

“I’ll be out in a moment.”

“Please hurry.  We don’t have much time left.”

“Victoria, I’ve done something without discussing it with you.”

“What is that?”

A man stepped out of the bathing room and Victoria tilted her head.  She had not seen this man on the ship before.  She heard the man say, “I took a bath.”

Victoria stared at the man and said, “Who are you?”  The man was silent and after a moment, what he said sunk in to Victoria’s consciousness.  “GEM?”

“I saved this DNA from a man that Victoria told me years ago was the most beautiful human male she had ever laid her eyes on.  I collected a sample of his DNA and saved it to one day use it for Victoria and me to be together.  How do I look?”

Victoria sprung out of the chair she was sitting in and rushed to his arms, “You look like a stranger but you feel like my love!”

Gem held her tightly and Victoria sighed, “Is this process reversible?”

“No, you and I are never going back to our old bodies.”

Victoria leaned back, “Has your mind been affected by this change?”

“Was yours?”

Victoria went to her toes and kissed Gem hard.  He pulled her close and after a very long moment, she leaned back, “Your mother is going to kill you for doing this!”

“I’ve renounced my throne and title.  She can only blame herself if it comes down to it.  But it’s probably a moot issue.  Surviving the coming battle against Serge doesn’t look promising.”

“Then we better make the most of this time we have.”  She went back into his arms and had to admit that the former Victoria had excellent taste in men.  Before he picked her up she said, “Call me Ana.”

“And you can call me anytime you want.”  Ana burst out laughing and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

• • •

Ninety minutes later, it took some time to convince the bridge crew that the man with her was Gem.  They missed the first few minutes of the President’s announcement but finally Billy said, “Hey, I was getting used to your appearance and now you go and take a form that puts us all to shame.  What do I have to do to take one of those baths?”

Everyone laughed and Gem said, “If we make it through this, I’ll see what I can do but you need to be careful.”

“Why is that?” Jack asked.

Gem smiled, “It’s like a tattoo, once it’s done, there’s no going back.”

Billy smiled, “Hey, make me your twin brother and I’ll take the consequences.”

Ana laughed and said, “Let’s listen to this.”  They turned and looked at the wall monitor.

S
erge looked at his display and asked, “What is this announcement about?”

The spy on the Unity Government’s Planet shook his head, “I have no idea and the Governing Representatives also don’t know.  The President contacted the head of Communications and asked for the connections to be established from his ship.”

“Where is he?”

“No one knows, Mr. Romanov.”

“Let me know if you hear anything.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Serge sat back in his chair and wondered what was going on.  This might be something innocent but…it was highly unusual.  He called in the Chief-of-Security and they sat and waited for the President to speak.

• • •

The wall monitor on board the Thermopylae activated as Desiree and Leonidas rushed on the bridge.  Desiree’s face was flushed and Leonidas was smiling, “Has he started?”

Embree shouted, “It just came on.”

They turned and heard the President say, “I’ve asked for this time to discuss an issue that involves everyone in the Unity.  I’m not going to waste any time because I don’t know how much time I have.  Serge Romanov has placed hundreds of thousands of explosive devices on the Unity’s Government Planet as well as most of our warships.  I am ordering every one of our warships holding orbit above a planet to move away immediately.  I have also discovered that most of the planets in the Unity also have these devices on them under Serge Romanov’s control.  He intends to destroy Cruet with these devices along with the majority of our fleets.”

The President paused and let what he said sink in.  “It appears that Romanov has developed a means of teleportation and is going to send nuclear bombs to the devices he has placed.  I know he is listening now and it is important for you to know that he intends to remove the Unity and step into the vacuum created and become the ruler of this galaxy.  I realize that many planets have no love for the Unity but you need to realize that you will have no choice but to do as he orders or face the same fate that awaits my planet.  He has planned this for years and is ready to take total control of every inhabited planet in our galaxy.  You must resist this!”  The President shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, “I have a small hope that now that I’ve revealed his plans that he might not do it.  He’s counting on all of you to welcome him in bringing order out of the chaos and then he’ll take total control.”

• • •

Serge looked at the Chief, “Contact the construction installations and issue commands for them to prepare to start the teleportation process and for the fleets to move here to Romania.”

“Do you think the plan will still work?”

“I’ll deny I had anything to do with it and scream convincingly enough that most won’t know what to believe.  How did he learn about this?”

“I have no idea.”

“Tell the technicians on the construction planets to start teleporting to the Insectoid Planets and Tortuga immediately after the Unity is destroyed.  I’ll be pressing the button to teleport the Trillium to the Unity Planet as soon as you confirm the other sites are ready to launch and our fleet arrives.”

The Chief left for his office and began sending orders to the hidden construction sites scattered around the galaxy.  He came back to Serge’s office fifteen minutes later and said, “The Fleets are on their way and will arrive within three hours.”

“Notify me when they clear the intersection.  I’ll start the teleportation process when they are close to Romania.”

The Chief left for his office and Serge saw the President end his announcement.  He would need to send ships out to find the President’s Ship and destroy it.  He had the current location plotted by tracking the source of the communication frequency.  He lifted his communicator, “Dispatch a squadron to go find the President and destroy his ship.”

“I’ve already dispatched ships to the location of his communication frequency.” One of his Senior Commanders replied.

“Good!  Let me know what happens.”

Serge sat back in his chair and wondered how the President had uncovered his plans.  His former dead daughter said that she had not revealed the plan to anyone hoping that she would be the beneficiary of it.  He smiled remembering her dying in excruciating pain screaming at the top of her voice.  It was a shame he had to kill his son as well but he had to make sure he wasn’t complicit in the treachery with his sister.  He wasn’t but, oh well, he was a victim of circumstances.  He would have to find another wife and have some more children; the company had to survive.

His panel beeped and he saw his assistant, “Sir, the President of the Unity has requested to speak with you.”

Serge’s eyes narrowed and, after a moment, responded, “Put him through.”

The President appeared and said, “Is there anything I can do to stop this?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“This is not being recorded and is on a private frequency.  I will step down and ask that you take my place if you’ll call this off.”  Serge stared at the President with narrowed eyes as he said, “There are billions of innocent beings on the Government Planet,” the President pleaded.

Serge waved his hand at the communicator, “There are no innocent beings on that planet.  They’re all involved in the government in one form or another.”

“Their families and children aren’t.”

“They are tainted by the ones that are.”

“Will you accept my offer and become President of the Unity?”

“Mr. President, I do not believe this conversation is not being recorded but even if it weren’t, I do not know why you have accused me of such hideous behavior.  Even if I chose to take advantage of this farce and take the office you’re offering, I’d be assassinated as soon as I set foot on the planet.  I have no desire to have any role in the Unity.  Quite frankly, your heavy handed tactics of forcing planets to join sicken me.”

“The peace the Unity brought to the galaxy has allowed you to trade and prosper.  Romania, more than any other planet, has grown and prospered beyond any other in the galaxy.”

“Without your incessant tampering, it would have grown even more.”

“You would have monopolized the entire economy if we didn’t make things fair for the other planets.”

“Tell it to someone who cares, Mr. President.”

“What if I shut down the government and send all of our warships to you to do as you want with them?”

Serge looked at the President and was really tempted by the offer.  But the beast would still be alive.  It could just as easily be brought back to life; but this way, there was a certainty that wouldn’t happen.  “You’re talking insanity.  This conversation is over.”

Serge ended the call and the President looked at his pilot, “Get us out of here.”  The President’s Ship was located at a giant intersection with hundreds of filaments that crossed each other.  His ship flashed into a giant filament and boosted to high speed.  “Sir, I have a huge fleet of warships on the opposite side of the filament headed toward the Zegar Quadrant.”

“Are they Romanov’s ships?”

“No, Sir.  They aren’t but they appear to have huge military transports along with thousands of warships.”

“What filament are we currently on?”

“It’s called the 440 and moves at an incredible speed.”

“Boost to a faster speed and get by them as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Sir.  I’ve just received a message from the ships we had with us at the intersection that six hundred Romanov Warships just arrived and are fanning out into the filaments.”

“They won’t be able to catch us.  Maintain this course and we’ll come back after a few weeks to see what’s happened.  I’m depending on you to make sure we aren’t followed.”

“Yes, Sir.  Are you certain one of those devices isn’t on this ship?”

The president’s eyes narrowed as he said, “I honestly don’t know.”  That was the last thing the President said as his ship exploded into vapor and was scattered along the 440 filament.

• • •

“Why didn’t you tell the President his ship was mined, Leonidas?” Desiree asked.

Leonidas sighed, “I am hoping that our devices prevent the teleport modules from sending their explosives.”

“But I would think that you’d want the President’s Ship to survive.”

Leo sighed heavily, “I have given a lot of thought to what is going to happen when the Romanov Technicians load the explosives into the sending modules and press the button to launch them.  I have to believe that most of the sending modules are not on Romania but will be launched from Serge’s secret building locations.  Serge will order the first wave of launches to be delivered against the Unity’s fleets and Cruet.  If just one launcher fails, the other modules might not be used until they investigate what caused the failure.”