Inherited War 1: Retribution (34 page)

“I prefer this one myself.”  Hal’s voiced changed over to sound like it had a thick Austrian accent. 
“To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.”

“H
a yeah, Conan kicks ass too but unfortunately you can’t hear shit in space.”  Cole started to walk toward the exit.  He stopped at the end of the table and turned back to face Hal.  “Make sure you and your people are ready too, Hal.  If we can find an information source we will need your people’s talents to break into it.” 

“
Cole, I won’t tell you how to do your job any more if you don’t try to tell me how to do mine.  I have already selected and installed the two AIs for each ship that will handle the collecting and storing of all gathered Intel.”  Hal’s avatar crossed his arms and took an indignant pose.  “Now go do what you need to do and leave me and mine to our business.”  The avatar blinked out and Cole found himself alone in the room.

Cole turned and headed out to visit the med bay so he could ask a favor from Sky.  It was going to be a quick two days but that’s how it always is when you dread going anywhere.  As much as Cole looked forward to serving up some revenge on the Esii he also dreaded the potential for disaster that any war can bring.

54

“I finally got around to asking Sky how the Nixa name their children.  They all have very descriptive names it seems to me.  Her explanation was straight forward.  Children on Nixa are named for whatever significant thing happens at the place they are born.  On the day of Sky’s birth, her planet had a very rare, apparently, solar phenomena.  She comes from a system with two suns known as a binary system.  She was born on a day that only comes along once every thousand years or so.  She was born when the system’s primary sun was setting at the exact same moment the secondary sun was rising.  The sky that day was supposedly a breathtaking display of color from one side to the other.  Hence the name, Sky, for her.  Commander Fury on the other hand was born during one of the most violent storms to ever hit his home island.  So he was named Fury after the storm.  Really ingenious system for naming offspring, though it must be hard if nothing spectacular happens that day.”

Cole found Sky in the med center where he knew she would be.  She was teaching a final class on triage and sorting of wounds.  She was taking questions so was almost done.  Cole snuck into the center and hung out in the back watching her teach and answer questions for about twenty minutes.  Having exhausted themselves of questions, her medical students finally got up and left leaving Cole and Sky alone in the med center.

“How are they coming?”  Cole had asked her a few times over the last few days about the medics and their training.

“Well as I’ve said before, Nixa medics are very well trained in their crafts and could be doctors in the civilian world with a year or two of residency.  They will do their jobs just fine for the hundredth time.”  Sky was looking worn out and tired.

“Sorry, just nervous I guess.  We go in two days.”  Cole didn’t have to elaborate any
more, Sky knew what he was talking about.

“I miss lying next to you at night.”  Sky walked over to him and put her arms around his neck, burying her head in his chest.  “I haven’t slept well either the last few nights.  I am scared, and not about the mission but about
what’s going on with you.”  She looked up into his eyes.  “Something has changed with you and it scares me. I want to run some test on you.” 

“Sky my nanites would tell me if something was physically wrong with me and they are silent on the matter.”  Cole responded.

“Please, for me?  Let me just put you on the imager real fast and take a look.”  She was almost begging him.

“Fine, but I need a favor after you’re done.”  Cole kissed her then moved over and lay down on her imaging table.  A light slowly passed over him from head to toe and when it was finished a
3D image of his body, minus the skin, was hovering just over his real body.  “Jesus, now that is cool.”  Cole blurted out.

“Quiet I'm concentrating.”  She admonished him.  Sky spent about thirty minutes looking him over from top to bottom and inside and out.  She found nothing.  “I am glad I found nothing wrong
, but I also found nothing that can explain why you’re acting the way you are when you’re asleep.”

Cole sat up and swung his legs over to dangle off the side of the table.  “Now that that’s over, I was wondering if you could prescribe something for me.”  Cole explained what he wanted.

Sky looked at Cole for a moment before responding.  “Only this one time, this is a dangerous drug and it is used only in last ditch efforts to save people.  I will administer the shot and will station a medical team at your door in case of complications.”

“No, no one can know.”  Cole looked around and spotted what he was looking for.  “We take that gurney back to my room and you strap me in.  You find Thalo and Jeth and tell them to meet us there.  You can give me the drug, Thalo and Jeth will keep me from hurting you if I get loose.”

She thought for a second before agreeing.  They got what they needed and had Hal guide them around any random encounters with the crew.  Cole didn’t want to shake anyone’s confidence in him just days before the mission but
he needed to figure out what was wrong with him and why he was so tired all of the time lately.  They made it unobserved to the ship and into his quarters where Thalo and Jeth were already setting up a couple of cots for them to sleep on.

The Worlders stopped what they were doing and looked at Cole.  “I have heard of this drug before Cole, are you sure you want to go through with this?”  Thalo asked him.

“No, I am not sure, but I have to.  Now shut up and get me ready.”  They made Cole as comfortable as possible on the medical gurney.

“This is going to feel a little weird at first Cole.”  Sky said as she explained the drug to him. 
She got an IV drip hooked into his arm and prepared the drug.  Before she injected it into the IV line, Sky bent over Cole and gave him a long passionate kiss.   While she was kissing him she depressed the plunger sending the drug coursing into his body.  She felt it the moment it hit his system.  His body went limp and his vitals dropped to almost nothing.  All three of the friends sat back and prepared for a long night of watch. 

Cole found himself once again in the back woods of Kentucky.  Things seemed a little wobbly and out of focus to him this time.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself and help him focus.  He opened his eyes and she was standing right in front of him.

“I don’t know who or what you are but this ends tonight.”  Cole stated.  “You cannot influence me or my mission.”

“Such courage tonight, something has changed.  Anyway, you know what I am just not who.”  Her voice grated in his brain worse than nails on a chalkboard.

“You are not
Esii, I remember the image I saw of one before.    You resemble one, almost.  But not a perfect copy.”  Cole stepped closer to the being in front of him.

Her laughter cut into his mind like a knife.  “Silly human, you see me in my true form, my mind for
m, but if it helps.”  She closed her eyes briefly and slowly changed.  Her eyes stopped glowing and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth formed where it should have been.  “There, more to your liking?”

Cole was struck silent as he watched her effortless change of form.  Now, even though she had a mouth
, she did not use it to speak.  He liked her better without the mouth.  “This only proves that you can look like whatever you want.”

“I grow tired of this game.”  She paused for a moment and closed her eyes.  “There is something different about you tonight. 
Hmm.  What could it be?  You seem more sluggish than normal and it was harder to invade your mind.”  Her eyes snapped open and she lunged forward.  “What did you take?”  She screamed as she attempted to tackle him to the ground.  Cole grabbed her arms as she flew at him and planted his foot into her belly just before rolling onto his back and catapulting her over himself.  She landed with a bone rattling thud on the ground and Cole finished the move by landing on top of her.

“A nice little drug that puts only part of the brain to sleep but allows cognitive functions to continue, I figured it would give me a fighting chance against you tonight.”  He pinned her arms to the ground and sat firmly on her chest.   She started to struggle and thrash violently on the ground.  “Now, now we can’t
have you leaving early, can we?  The great thing about the current state of my brain is I have more control over my mind while asleep.  I can have a greater impact on our little meetings.  Normally I wouldn’t do this, but for you I will make an exception.”  Cole let go of one of her wrists and reached his hand back.   He brought it forward lightning fast and connected with her newly formed jaw.  Her head snapped back violently and her eyes rolled back into her head.  “That’s for fucking up my sleep.”

Cole stood up and looked down on the prone form lying between his feet.  Her features slowly melted back into their original shape.  She hadn’t been
lying, maybe this was the form the Esii used to communicate mentally.  He tore off some strips of his shirt then bound her hands behind her back and her feet together.  He propped her up in a seated position by a tree and waited for her to regain consciousness.  She came to quite suddenly and was instantly aware.

“You go too far I will….”  Cole interrupted her there.

“No, I haven’t even begun yet.  Now, it’s time to tell me a thing or two.  Who and where are you?  What are you trying to accomplish here and how much do you know about us?”  Cole got right up into her face and placed his hand on her neck.

“You have less power here than you realize human.”  She said that last word like a curse.  “I can feel the worry in the room around your
body, you will not be taking that drug again so soon.  Yes, it is very dangerous and the doctor will not give it to you again.  So before you go making demands and threatening me, maybe you should remember that tomorrow night you will be at my mercy again.”

“Lady, I’ve had bigger problems than you can ever be
. I will deal with whatever you can throw my way and after tonight I think I will be in more control with or without the drug.  Now tell me what I want to know.”  Cole tightened his grip on her throat.

“I will return.”  Was all that she said
, before disappearing.  Cole found himself suddenly grasping only air.

“Damn it.”  He whispered and stood up to scan his surroundings.  After a few moments of seeing nothing he walked over to a fallen tree and sat down.  He was wondering how long this awareness was going to last and what he would do until it wore off.  He spent what felt like an eternity waiting on that log to either fall asleep or wake up.  He woke up and the next thing he knew….

He was struggling against straps that were holding his arms and legs down.  He stopped thrashing around and took a moment to orient himself to his surroundings.  He wasn’t in the woods but was on
board his ship in his cabin.  A very frightened looking Sky was hovering over him while Thalo and Jeth stood nearby.  “I’m awake, can you let me up?”

“Give me a moment please
, Cole.”  Sky responded before holding a medical device of some kind in front of his face.  “He is okay, he is awake.”  She started to undo the nearest strap while Thalo took the other side.  After the straps had been removed and Cole was in an upright position he asked for some water.  “That’s a side effect of the drug.  It dehydrated you and will leave a metallic taste in your mouth for a day or so.  How do you feel?”

“Better than I have in the last few days but I still can’t remember anything.
  Wait, something about some woods somewhere is all I can remember.  Nothing specific though.  Damn, I was hoping that would work.”  Cole drank some more water.

“Well at least it looks like you got some actual rest last night boss.  That will at least make the crew feel better.”  Thalo said as he peered intently at Cole.  “We are off to get some sack time ourselves, right big boy
?”

Jeth grunted his agreement and stood up to leave with Thalo.  He laid a huge hand on Cole’s shoulder.  “Thalo isn’t lying
, you do look better than you have in the last few days.”  He turned and squeezed his huge frame out of the cabin door leaving Cole and sky alone.

“Never again Cole, that was just too damn dangerous.  Your vitals were spiking from over exerted to almost nonexistent.  Even with your nanites your body can’t take any more nights like that one.”  She placed her hands on either side of his face and looked into his eyes.

“I know Sky, I won’t ask again.  Now why don’t you head off and get some rest yourself.  We leave in a day and your patient needs to be aboard the
Retribution
when we leave.”  Cole stood up and stretched aching muscles.  “God, it feels like I went ten rounds with you in the training ring.”

“You thrashed and jerked pretty violently there for a few minutes, I am not surprised you’re sore.”  She gave him a quick kiss before she departed his room for her own.   Cole got dressed and headed up to the bridge.  He had some minor details to go over before leaving in a day and wanted to see them finished so he could have some down time tonight.  It was almost
here, time to kick off this war.