everybody.”
Kyle cleared his throat as he clenched his eyes shut a moment.
Jaric waited.
“The final victory,” Kyle said in a low whisper.
“Till us, buddy. And Mother. We've been beatin’ them right and left since Earth got whacked,” Jaric said proudly.
Kyle chuckled weakly. “Do you remember your real mom?”
“No, I don't. It makes me sad sometimes. She died at one of the early battles. But I do remember Dad. I'll never forget him.” Jaric watched Kyle.
“It's a tough life,” Kyle said. His inner melancholy washed over his face anew.
“C'mon, Kyle. Tell me what's really bothering you.”
With bowed head, Kyle spoke. “Sometimes I think we're not going to find anybody.”
Now the silence became a thick, suffocating blanket. Jaric's breathing became quick and shallow as his mind raced with the unthinkable. He felt the empty room begin to spin slowly.
But Kyle remained motionless, unchanged.
It seemed an eternity before Jaric could find his voice, could get his breathing almost normal. He started to speak, coughed, but finally his words came. “That's not right, man. We're going to find somebody. We've got to find them.”
Kyle raised his head and stared at him. He saw the fear in his friend's eyes, the raw panic. “Yeah, you're right. I'm just being stupid. Don't listen to me, I'm just stupid.”
“There were over seventy planets, man. Somebody, somewhere, had to escape.” Jaric took a deep breath. “We did.”
“Sure.” But Kyle's tone belied his answer.
This time the silence was unbearable as the seconds dragged on.
“Let's go find Becky, Big K.” Jaric rose quickly. “Hey, let's take the fighters out again and do some mock dogfights. I'm sure that'll get you in a better mood.”
“Sounds like fun. Let's go fly circles around Mother. Maybe if we shoot a couple of blasts over her bow, we can get her pissed enough to dogfight with us. You know, teach us another of her lessons in aerial warfare!”
“That'd be supercool! If Mother knows anything, it's how to fight.”
The two young men strode for the door at the other end of the empty bay, opened it, and entered the corridor leading upward.
Mother thought long and hard about the conversation, analyzing it even as she maneuvered in mock combat with the single-man fighters the children flew.
In a way, she felt bad. The boys had thought all these years that they were alone in the lower storage bay, far from any of her optical viewers. But Mother's audio systems as well as her security systems were located in every section, including storage bays.
She had never told them. She had shared all of their boyhood secrets—and now the whispers of their young manhood.
But their words caused her more anguish, which she did not know exactly how to deal with—even with the knowledgebase of humanity at her disposal.
Their search continued.
Chapter Eight
The Leader class gathered in the dark interior, among the dark flowing folds. The fighters and frigates from the decimated Third Fleet had been no match for the Iron Huntress. Now, one of their cruisers had even fallen to the Huntress's mighty weapons. This news shocked the T'kaan.
Worse, the lust that was the third stage had almost arrived.
But now the lust for killing must be high. For the only thing that the T'kaan loved more than mating and eating...was war.
Guttural voices joined in unison, as the one thought became clear.
“A ship to build, a ship to match. Kill the Huntress, her false life to snatch!”
“Mother she is, creation of man. Trickster are we, kill her we can. As vain their search, as great our plan!”
The new T'kaan ship began to take shape—faster, more advanced, with stronger engines and mightier weapons. A ship that could match the deadly Huntress, engine for engine, weapon for weapon.
But it would take time.
A second plan to trick and trap the Huntress came to fruition first, while the work on the new ship continued apace.
Chapter Nine
The children
Kyle cleared his throat as he clenched his eyes shut a moment.
Jaric waited.
“The final victory,” Kyle said in a low whisper.
“Till us, buddy. And Mother. We've been beatin’ them right and left since Earth got whacked,” Jaric said proudly.
Kyle chuckled weakly. “Do you remember your real mom?”
“No, I don't. It makes me sad sometimes. She died at one of the early battles. But I do remember Dad. I'll never forget him.” Jaric watched Kyle.
“It's a tough life,” Kyle said. His inner melancholy washed over his face anew.
“C'mon, Kyle. Tell me what's really bothering you.”
With bowed head, Kyle spoke. “Sometimes I think we're not going to find anybody.”
Now the silence became a thick, suffocating blanket. Jaric's breathing became quick and shallow as his mind raced with the unthinkable. He felt the empty room begin to spin slowly.
But Kyle remained motionless, unchanged.
It seemed an eternity before Jaric could find his voice, could get his breathing almost normal. He started to speak, coughed, but finally his words came. “That's not right, man. We're going to find somebody. We've got to find them.”
Kyle raised his head and stared at him. He saw the fear in his friend's eyes, the raw panic. “Yeah, you're right. I'm just being stupid. Don't listen to me, I'm just stupid.”
“There were over seventy planets, man. Somebody, somewhere, had to escape.” Jaric took a deep breath. “We did.”
“Sure.” But Kyle's tone belied his answer.
This time the silence was unbearable as the seconds dragged on.
“Let's go find Becky, Big K.” Jaric rose quickly. “Hey, let's take the fighters out again and do some mock dogfights. I'm sure that'll get you in a better mood.”
“Sounds like fun. Let's go fly circles around Mother. Maybe if we shoot a couple of blasts over her bow, we can get her pissed enough to dogfight with us. You know, teach us another of her lessons in aerial warfare!”
“That'd be supercool! If Mother knows anything, it's how to fight.”
The two young men strode for the door at the other end of the empty bay, opened it, and entered the corridor leading upward.
Mother thought long and hard about the conversation, analyzing it even as she maneuvered in mock combat with the single-man fighters the children flew.
In a way, she felt bad. The boys had thought all these years that they were alone in the lower storage bay, far from any of her optical viewers. But Mother's audio systems as well as her security systems were located in every section, including storage bays.
She had never told them. She had shared all of their boyhood secrets—and now the whispers of their young manhood.
But their words caused her more anguish, which she did not know exactly how to deal with—even with the knowledgebase of humanity at her disposal.
Their search continued.
Chapter Eight
The Leader class gathered in the dark interior, among the dark flowing folds. The fighters and frigates from the decimated Third Fleet had been no match for the Iron Huntress. Now, one of their cruisers had even fallen to the Huntress's mighty weapons. This news shocked the T'kaan.
Worse, the lust that was the third stage had almost arrived.
But now the lust for killing must be high. For the only thing that the T'kaan loved more than mating and eating...was war.
Guttural voices joined in unison, as the one thought became clear.
“A ship to build, a ship to match. Kill the Huntress, her false life to snatch!”
“Mother she is, creation of man. Trickster are we, kill her we can. As vain their search, as great our plan!”
The new T'kaan ship began to take shape—faster, more advanced, with stronger engines and mightier weapons. A ship that could match the deadly Huntress, engine for engine, weapon for weapon.
But it would take time.
A second plan to trick and trap the Huntress came to fruition first, while the work on the new ship continued apace.
Chapter Nine
The children
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