Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (46 page)

“Trent, for as long as I live, I will love
only you...and I promise, I will never betray you....I love you,
now and forever,” she vowed in response, her words the truth.
I
will never betray this man, I might hurt him,
she knew,
but
I will never betray him.

Sasha's declaration of love echoed within his
mind and he knew, for the last time, he'd opened his heart. No
matter what happens in the future,
I will never love anyone but
Sasha for the rest of my life.
The feeling was odd, giving
oneself completely to these feelings that scared him beyond all
comprehension. But he knew it had to be done, for him to heal...and
he felt rejuvenated.

They stared into each other’s eyes, hers
twinkling with nothing but her love. He leaned in, kissing her
softly, the touch of her lips threatening to melt away his rational
mind. When he tried to pull away, she tightened her embrace, the
passion of her kiss stripping away the last layers of protection
that covered his heart as he allowed her to devour him
completely.

As Trent gave himself wholly to Sasha, he
thought about many things. About his past and his future, about his
lost hopes and dreams, and found, in all those thoughts, Sasha was
now there, telling him that it didn't matter anymore, that this was
now their story, their journey. Then the kiss came to an abrupt end
and they released each other. Trent's gaze lingered, unable to pull
away from the emerald eyes that he knew would forever haunt his
dreams...and his days.

“Courtship completed. Approved and logged.
Date of formal elevation ceremony to be determined once current
situation is resolved,” Vin’s monotone voice echoed through the
tunnel. He looked down at the sphere, then back at Sasha, who
shared his baffled look.

“Vin,” Sasha started carefully, “what exactly
do you mean by courtship approved?” she asked, obviously
confused.

“This Program deemed the words and actions
presented to be sufficient for completion of standard NHA courtship
requirements and wedding procedure. The information that Sir Trent
is now the official consort of Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia has been
approved and submitted to the official registry on Planet Origin,”
Trent stared at the rippling bronze sphere, then at Sasha, unable
to close his gaping jaw.

“Did I hear that right?” Trent whispered,
finding Sasha in a sudden daze, but a small grin did appear on her
lips.

“I believe you did, Trent,” Sasha sighed,
“but if we look at the bright side, we will not have to go through
the more uncomfortable steps of courtship,” her words echoed his
own exhaustion, drained from the emotional rollercoaster of the
past few hours.

“I did want to call you my girlfriend for a
while at least,” he admitted, “but,” he couldn’t believe what he
was about to say, “I'm actually not bothered that I can call you my
wife. It’s...it’s a strange feeling,” he shook his head in
disbelief.
Who am I?
He wondered. Sasha perked up at his
words, as did Terra, who started dancing and squawking in delight
on her partially exposed bosom.

“I'd prefer it if you called me your
girlfriend,” she stated with a wink, “until we actually have the
official elevation ceremony. The ruling nobility, including my
parents, may raise a few eyebrows if they hear of a grand duchess
eloping,” Sasha admitted, forcing a bit of humor into her exhausted
voice.

With a tender smile, she
sat
herself up against the wall and
placed
her legs out straight, waving for him to join
her. He crawled the short distance to her side and slid his hand
around her waist as he leaned in to steal a quick kiss. She
blushed, reaching across his body to grab his hand.

“Now, Trent,” she became serious, “I want to
know everything about you. I need to know why you think your life
is worthless...which it is not, mind you...and you better not ever
think or say anything of the like again, do you understand?” she
batted a finger in his direction, getting slightly sidetracked from
her original statement.

“Yes, Sasha, I promise,” he whispered, unable
to hide his embarrassment when recalled what he’d said earlier.

“Good,” she nodded, satisfied, “now...start
from the beginning and don't leave anything out, even if you think
I'll hate you for it. I want to know everything about you...every
feeling...every thought...every action...everything,” Trent gazed
at Sasha, knowing that he didn't have a choice in the matter, but
finding the idea of opening himself completely to another no longer
scared him. It was an odd feeling, to have another care for him
completely...for the first time he could ever remember. He took a
deep breath and started from the beginning.

“It all started back when I hit puberty,
before that I was a kind...” As Trent talked, Sasha let her head
fall on his shoulder and listened, along with the catillian named
Terra, and a Program named Vin.

The bridge of the TSB Ero'Cia sat eerily
silent as the countdown timer ticked in unison with Daniel’s
rapidly beating heart, passing five minutes till contact with the
HZBF invasion fleet; the time of his betrayal. It almost seemed
surreal, like he was watching someone else betray both the TSB and
ABF to Duke Zehman, someone who just incidentally had an identical
appearance and name as he. The feeling was odd, and became even
stronger as the gravity of what he had done began to surface the
moment he returned to the bridge, bringing with it an icy fear that
threatened to encase his mind.

It will be fine,
he reassured,
no
one will ever know,
recalling his crony, Deck Engineer Bradley,
and the instructions he had provided before being reassigned to the
TSB Transit Station, about how to send “sensitive” messages without
TSB communication officers or engineers detecting their existence.
He breathed out slowly; trying to calm his rushing heart, before
turning his attention back to his tactical display, hoping to shed
the layer of insecurity that clung relentlessly to him as he went
back to work.

The TSB fleet continued to approach the HZBF
invasion fleet from the rear. But now, thirty ABF battle group
signatures had joined them, scattered randomly to all sides, with
only four being real. The others were “faked”, created by the
powerful EW arrays of the remaining TSB EW Frigates to mask the
approach of the real ABF fleet.

“Helm, prepare for emergency deceleration at
my command,” Captain Aysi sounded over the bridge’s com.

The contact timer ticked down to one minute
as his tactical display began to update rapidly, zooming in on his
assigned sector of the enemy fleet as battle group command set
targeting priorities. He selected the NHA Super-Capital HZBF
Mar'Zif that sat in the center of his assigned targeting zone, and
began marking EW anomalies that the auto-targeting system couldn’t
recognize.

Thirty-seconds to contact. The anomalies
appeared faster and faster, allowing Daniel to lose himself in his
duty as he marked one after another. He found, to his surprise, he
had little trouble keeping pace.
XO Geoff would be proud
,
had he not died in vain,
he shook away the thought, turning
his attention to reviewing the anomalies marked by the 16 year-old
tactical trainee in CSS. Another bout of regret suddenly enveloped
him, but he knew that no matter his shifting feelings, it was
already too late.

Ten seconds to contact. His weapon crews
reported surviving LPAs active and ready, with the plasma cannon
online. He hovered his trembling finger over the fire icon, sweat
dripping off his brow to pass through the tactile projected station
to splash atop the PDU below.

“Fire all LPAs!” the captain shouted. Daniel
punched the fire icon. The Ero’Cia’s two surviving large LPAs, and
the remaining medium and small LPAs, fired in unison with the
surrounding TSB starships. The majority streamed towards the NHA
Super-Capital HZBF Mar'Zif, having been a priority target for TSB
task force one, since removing another of the behemoths from the
fight would provide the outnumbered ABF a better chance of
survival.

Daniel, along with the rest of the bridge
officers, felt his tension ease as no return fire was detected and
the first TSB salvo struck the enemy fleet. Four HZBF screening
frigates and two corvettes flickered, vanishing as they did their
job, protecting the more powerful starships within. While the few
LPAs that made it through were absorbed and redirected by the
super-capital’s massive ESS.

“Change of orders! Helm, accelerate into
plasma cannon range!” Captain Aysi shouted.

This isn't right,
Daniel wanted to
scream,
they were supposed to retreat to safety after firing
their first salvo!
But it was too late, the order already
given.

As one, the TSB Fleet accelerated, closing in
on the 500,000 km preferred range of the plasma cannons. Daniel,
having recovered from his momentary lapse, kept up his fire,
joining the rest of the TSB fleet in sending a third salvo of large
LPAs at the HZBF Mar'Zif, which flickered and started to slow,
debris and air streaming free as LPAs found gaps in its weakening
ESS.

Then, as planned, the 30 ABF battle groups,
26 of which were groups of TSB EW frigates, reached a million
kilometers. Daniel gritted his teeth as the HZBF battle groups
fired their thousands of LPAs in unison at what Daniel knew were
the real ABF signatures, the mass of deadly fire taking the longest
three seconds of his life to stream across space.

The four ABF battle groups vanished from his
tactical display as the torrent of fire struck. Daniel blinked,
unable to understand what just occurred. It was highly unlikely the
amount of LPA fire that erupted forth from the HZBF invasion fleet
could have destroyed all four ABF battle groups in an instant. He
glanced over his shoulder in wonder, finding Lt.-Commander Xi
glaring in his direction with a sneer...
he'd been found
. A
message icon flashed and he punched it immediately, trying to
ignore the sweat that had begun dripping into his eyes, while
keeping his attention on detecting newly formed EW anomalies.

“I'll keep quiet about that “other” message
you tried to includ, but you are now mine to do with as I please,”
her words sunk in slowly as the battle raged around him, his mind
unable to register anything but its mayhem.

The HZBF invasion fleet, after a brief pause
where Daniel could picture Duke Zehman raging at being fooled,
turned and fired on another group of ABF signatures that vanished
in a sea of LPA fire, another group of unlucky EW Frigates
meaninglessly giving their lives.
She set me up
...there was
no way that Duke Zehman would take him in now...he had failed.

The ABF battle groups continued to close at
50,000 kps, no return fire erupting from any of the remaining 20
ABF battle group signatures. It appeared they were waiting to get
within plasma cannon range, since they were still outnumbered and
that would provide them the best chance of devastating the
enemy.

“Fire plasma cannon,” Captain Aysi bellowed.
Daniel, without thought, punched the fire icon, allowing the
swirling mass of plasma, born of the artificial neutron star within
the NSD core, to let loose milliseconds later than the rest of the
fleet. The swirling beams shot across space at 200,000 kilometers
per second. But the HZBF invasion fleet reacted immediately,
changing course while firing on another “fake” ABF signature.

The majority of the plasma beams missed well
wide, but two struck home as the HZBF fleet maneuvered, causing a
line of screening corvettes and frigates to blow spectacularly.
Their obliteration must have caught the attention of HZBF fleet
command and they finally
shifted
their
targeting priorities towards the TSB fleet. The two battle groups
that made up the rear screen of the HZBF’s arrowhead formation
rotated and fired as one.

“Helm, zero by twenty burn, now!” Captain
Aysi shouted as the entire TSB fleet angled up in an attempt to
dodge the incoming LPA fire. Daniel braced himself as a group of 10
large LPA beams passed just meters from the Ero'Cia's ESS. He
wondered if Duke Zehman had taken the time to remove their
starship’s signature after he found out the information was false
or if he'd just never entered it in the first place. He shook his
head miserably...
it doesn’t matter now, does it?

“Helm, zero by negative twenty burn!” The
fleet angled down, attempting to maneuver out of the way of the
slower plasma beams, which thankfully, missed by a little over a
thousand km. However, a few of the HZBF's LPAs tracked their
maneuver, catching a TSB corvette and frigate that reacted too
slow, breaking through energy shields and slicing the starships to
pieces. A moment later, the ABF battle group signatures reached
500,000 km, plasma cannon range, and to his surprise...and growing
horror...no fire emerged, they just kept closing.

“Tactical! Fire plasma cannon on next turn!”
The captain's orders tore Daniel out of his momentary confusion.
Unlike the LPAs, which could fire on a 180 degree double plane arc,
the plasma cannon required the starship to be aimed in the
direction required.

“Helm, zero by twenty burn...now!” The
starship began its return maneuver and Daniel hit the fire icon a
moment before the nose of the starship passed the designated angle.
The plasma beam erupted forth, swirling through space at 200,000
kps, and connected with an HZBF capital ship that had taken up
position next to the super-capital he had targeted. The 10
kilometer long starship flickered, then slowed as its ESS failed,
LPAs and other plasma beams cutting hundreds of holes through its
massive hull....forcing it to fall out of formation as air and
debris exploded into space.