Overdrive (7 page)

Michael smiled.
“Bit transparent really. The Valkyries we’re hoping will only be used as a last
resort in case the Overdrive should elude Simbiel."

Gabriella stopped
to consider. Her twelve Valkyries were the most powerful battleships in the
known galaxy. Makon’s defense budget for the last twenty years had been spent
in development and construction of these ships and she wasn’t about to risk one
unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Unfortunately all
of my Valkyries are currently engaged on other assignments although I might be
able to help you when and if the time comes."

Michael knew that
Gabriella wouldn’t risk her precious ships unless she thought she would gain
some sort of advantage from it. “Of course, if we should capture the Overdrive
data, allowances could be made for a few ships of the fleet to possess the
technology."

“Really?”
Gabriella feigned mock surprise and her voice dripped sarcasm. “Gee, I hadn’t
thought of that myself. That’s a novel idea. Now you put it that way I feel
confident that I will be able to devote at least one Valkyrie should that
simpleton Simbiel fail in his task."

“That sounds
acceptable," replied Michael.

Metatron clapped
his hands and stood, somewhat shakily.

“Right then. If
we’ve finished up here, I’ve got an important appointment with two of those
lovely Ministering Angels. Michael, great to see you as always. Gabe, I take it
you’ll be off back to Makon.”

“Yes Demiurge."

“Good. See you in
six months." With that, Metatron, staggering slightly, walked up to the
throne and disappeared through the door hidden behind it.

“Looks like its
just you and me Mickey boy," Gabriella said saucily.

Michael rolled his
eyes again. “Don’t start Gabe."

“Why not? I’ve
been telling you for years that an alliance, both politically and physically,
is just what we need at the moment. Especially the physical." She winked.

“Gabe,"
Michael sighed, “how many times do I have to tell you I’m not interested in any
sort of alliance. When Metatron passes on, I am fully confident that I have the
power and ability to succeed him. Besides, I’m not interested in women."

Gabriella was
constantly surprised by Michael’s confidence in his own abilities. That was
what made him so attractive.

“Well, you’re full
of yourself today. I wouldn’t be as confident as that if I were you. I may have
some surprises yet to show you.” She paused and let her frustration and
irritation show. “I take it you’re still seeing that Angelic pretty boy?

Michael showed
surprise. She must have some spies pretty close to him. “How did you know”?

Gabriella smirked.
“I have my sources." She pouted to show her displeasure.

“What in hell has
he got that I haven’t?”

Reflecting, she
added “apart from the obvious. I swallow and I’ll even take it up the arse for
you. What more do you want?”

Michael flinched.
“Is there any need to be quite so crude. And for your information, I require
someone with strong moral character, a kind heart, incorruptible and lacking
political motives. Being male and not a dirty whore helps as well."

“Who are you
calling a whore? I just like to enjoy myself, that’s all. Look, when the old
fart kicks the bucket, there’s going to be a lot of reshuffling and upheaval in
the ranks. We’re gonna need each other, obviously withstanding the sex bit;
I’ve got the cunning and guile, you’ve got a practical mind geared for
administration."

“And yours is
geared for sin," Michael muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“I’ve heard rumors
Gabe. Bad ones.”

“Such as?”
Gabriella reverted to her innocent girlish persona.

“You’ve gone
against the proscription and are having sex with common Templars."

“So? What of it?
Makon is my world and I can fuck whoever and however I like on it.”

Michael enjoyed
watching the indignation and defensiveness on Gabriella’s face.

“Yes, but it goes
against the Proscription. The Watchers left 100 years ago because of that.
Carrying on the way you are makes you no different to them. You know the rules.
What sort of precedent do you think you’re setting? Angels are forbidden to
have sexual congress with non Angelic beings. The Watchers left because they
couldn’t agree on that one rule. If you feel so strongly about it, maybe you
should join them.”

Annoyance crossed
Gabriella’s perfect features. “And so its alright for you to fuck little boys”

“He’s not a little
boy. He’s over 40 and he is of Angel stature. There is nothing in the
Proscription that forbids it."

“Yeah, but what
about the bible?”

“In the bible it
states that all Angels are pure in body, heart and mind. I think we both fail
on a couple of counts. Face it. We’re no angels.” Both Gabriella and Michael
smiled at the irony.

“Anyway, just
forget it Gabe," Michael continued, “what we should be concentrating on is
that bloody Overdrive. Our priorities at the moment should be to recover it. If
someone else gets that, then either one of us won’t have an empire to manage
when Metatron goes. I think we should both co-operate and pool our resources to
secure this. Any other approach would be sheer stupidity."

“Oh great. So you
won’t agree to an alliance once Metatron goes but you want one now.” Michael
opened his mouth in an attempt to protest. Gabriella forestalled him. “Oh
alright. Agreed." Despite their differences, Gabriella knew some sort of
co-operation would be required in order to obtain the Overdrive. Besides, this
meeting had already served its purpose. She was now in possession of Felix’s
whereabouts – information she had not known previously. “The deal still stands Mickey.
If required, one of my Valkyries will be ready to intervene.”

“Thank you
Gabriella." Michael relaxed and commanded his AI to turn off the buffer
field. “Now if you’d excuse me, I’ve got an urgent meeting with my bookie. One
of my horses is running today.”

Standing and
giving Gabriella a perfunctory peck on the cheek, Michael departed via the same
exit as Metatron.

Gabriella watched
him leave. She’d have to do something about him when this was all over. For the
time being he was useful and for some reason she had a soft spot for him in her
otherwise unsentimental heart. The Overdrive was the key. Once she had that in
her possession, it would be time for her to make her play.

With thoughts of
galactic domination going through her head, Gabriella made her way through the
palace corridors. Taking an AG lift down, she exited at the Space port level
and was met in the foyer by her private guard consisting of 12 burly and
uniformly ruggedly handsome Templars and the Angel Sammael, her assistant. The
12 Templars fanned out to surround her and with Sammael falling in at her side,
Gabriella strode towards her docking bay. Gabriella had chosen her Templars
personally, requiring loyalty, good looks, an amorous nature, and downright,
unadulterated stupidity.

The Space port
foyer was a massive and impressive edifice. Constructed primarily of marble and
supported by huge Ionic columns, it presented the cold, holy, awe inspiring and
hard face of Areopagite society to off world visitors. Millions visited the
Areopagites capital planet each year. Some were on holy pilgrimages, some came
representing trade or exploratory interests, and still others came to stare in
open mouth astonishment at a world filled with beautiful angelic creatures.
Many were doing just that –gazing at Gabriella in reverential awe as her
Templars pushed their way through the crowd. Some, getting too close, were
trampled underfoot.

“How did it go?,"
inquired Sammael.

“Better than
expected. I have some information you need to pass onto our mutual friend. Our
quarry is now on board the Hedonist ship
Dirty Little Minx
, bound for
Revel. It seems Metatron and Michael were more resourceful than we’d planned.
Simbiel’s been assigned to track them down."

“Simbiel! I’m
surprised that boy knows which end of his sword to hit things with.”

“That, dear
Sammael," she said patting his arm, “is precisely why they sent him. And
for all his stupidity, he seems to be closer to the Overdrive than we are."

Gabriella glanced
at Sammael reproachfully. Like all Angels in the middle hierarchy, Sammael was
handsome, blond, muscular, clad in white robes and had glowing blue eyes. He
had been with her for close to 50 years after she elevated him to Angel status.
She’d found him on one of the outlying Areopagite controlled worlds, rapidly
establishing a reputation and a small empire with skill, ruthlessness, violence
and depravity – many of the attributes she admired. He shared her ambition, was
happy to get his hands dirty and was a decent bed wrestling partner when
required.

Sammael took the
hint. “I’ll get onto our friend immediately. At most, he’ll only be a few hours
behind."

Gabriella flicked
him an irate glance. “You better pray that’s all it is.”

“Prayer? Now
that’s novel coming from you."

“Don’t fuck with
me Sammael. We need the Overdrive. Get this thing sorted. Now!”

Continuing to walk
through the foyer, they were waved through the docking bay control gates by
guards meekly trying to catch a glance of Gabriella, emerging at the bay for
her ship - the one kilometer long Valkyrie
Blazing Trumpet -
a silver
ovoid with thrusters jutting from the back and landing pads from its belly. The
ships Captain and crew were all standing to attention at the foot of the
entrance ramp. Gabriella didn’t even glance at them as she made her way up the
ramp.

“Prepare to debark
for Makon, Captain.”

“Yes Princess."

In his private
quarters, Sammael opened a channel via his AI. A call like this would normally
be prohibitive with normal communication links, but the Areopagites possessed
the best private relays available. Gabriella had made it clear that she
wouldn’t tolerate any delays and he certainly couldn’t wait the 12 hours it
would take to reach Makon.

His AI reported
that it had established a link, but no face or icon appeared under his eyelid.

“Sammael. Didn’t
expect to hear from you."

“Yes, well. We’ve
had a development. I know where you can find the one we seek.” He quickly coded
the information and instructed his AI to send. “Better get your man onto it
smartly. It seems that fuckwit Simbiel is closer than we are, so tell your boy
to watch out. The general consensus is that Simbiel is an idiot but also an
idiot that’s very prone to extreme violence if anyone should get in his way."

“That shouldn’t be
a problem. Our agent is also, ah, shall we say, rather good at what he does.
He’s also not very far away."

“He’d better be
otherwise its both our nuts on the line."

“How are your nuts
by the way? Still getting frequent attention from Gabriella?”

“None of your
business. If you’re so keen to find out about Gabriella’s nocturnal activities,
why don’t you go there yourself?”

“No thanks. You
think I’m stupid?”

“Thought never crossed
my mind. Now find that fucking Overdrive." He instructed his AI to cut the
link and settled back into his seat. If worse came to worse, he could always
step in directly himself. That would obviously reveal to Metatron and Michael
that Gabriella was more involved than she’d let on and raise subsequent
questions. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

◊

Even at over a 1km
away, the
Dirty Little Minx
was an impressive sight.  Resembling a
watermelon in shape, and painted in what must be bright swirling colors (color
had limited impact in nospace), the Hedonist Starcruiser was over 5km long and
some 3km in diameter. Huge ion thruster nozzles thrust from the stern
surrounding the relatively innocuous Slipdrive exhaust.

Tarquin’s AI
reported that
the Dirty Little Minx
had taken over navigational control
of his ship, so with little to do, he grabbed a beer for himself and Logan from
his ships bar and returned to his seat in the bridge.

Logan accepted his
beer with a grateful grunt and the two sat back to watch the docking procedure.
At 300 meters out and heading directly for the midship docking bay area, both
men could make out the figure painted near the bow. A woman, nearly half a
kilometer tall, beckoned gaily with a smile and a wink. During the 10 minutes
or so it took to dock, the men watched as the ships holographic namesake
flirted with any ship passing near her hull. Ginormous curves competed with
other more lurid gestures to get the attention of the slightly startled
occupants of the
Debacherous Weekend
.

“Well," a
thoroughly impressed Logan remarked, “I’ve certainly had less enthusiastic
welcomes. I wonder if she’s on board in more manageable proportions?," he
finished thoughtfully.

Tarquin raised his
eyebrows. “If she’s on board, I’m sure you’ll find her Log.” He paused to have
a slurp on his beer. “You even been on one of these Hedonist ships before?”