Evolution's Essence (30 page)

“
When it is docked and
secure, teleport us to Olly’s nearby coordinates. Anything else I
need be aware of?”

“
Just that your father and
the Dorgenox also went with your consort. Captain Jake Dorgen
seemed rather excited as they departed an hour before I roused
you.”

“
As expected. Papa finally
might find answers to some burning questions. Might as well finish
my brew and get started dealing with being queen again.” She yawned
as the holographic aid stopped projecting. “Who’s first?!” her
voice carried and the hall quieted more as the first petitioner
left their seat to gain an audience.

Samuel along with all other security
personnel drew swords as the large scout ship riddle with fist size
holes passed through the transparent, blue tinted force field. His
eyes lowed and it was also reflected as his blade brightened too.
Medical teams stayed back with scientists he knew. It seemed that
the ship’s sensors detected atmosphere as the shield bubble
surrounding it winked out and thick streams of blood poured out the
bottom from holes. Unlike his mother and grandparents, he could be
infected by Keptl spores, but it would take time if he couldn’t
find a female Solarian to expel the invasive blood from taking over
in time. Like himself, the security teams malleable clothing was in
armor mode.

Soon as Laxus sat the ship on the ground
Samuel effortlessly cut out a hole through the ship’s bridge window
and entered to use his chip to scan the large bodies, target the
secondary brain already closing gaping head wounds and sent slicing
waves to destroy them from regenerating.

Other teams entering at different points did
likewise.

Then Samuel felt the barest shift and knew
the city teleported as ordered.

Killing took ten minutes because the Keptl
were so tightly packed it was hard to maneuver. A handful of
Defilers, two coiled Dragoons, dozens of Lisks and more than a
hundred Trackers filled the bloody ship. Soon as all cellular
readings flat lined Samuel and others telekinetically extracted the
carapace covered carcasses and put them into a pile. Microbe
scrubbers misted around the ship to neutralize all contaminants
while someone lit the carcass pile afire. It was the fastest way to
safely get rid of the bodies.

Samuel and medic teams moved to the cargo
area while engineers used nanite material to patch up all the holes
while others gained access to the scout ship’s computers. Samuel’s
sense of smell was much greater than average and though his helmet
was on, like his grandfather’s suit, he could still smell
everything. The cargo area was fouled and covered in mushrooms on
top of excrement that fed bugs which in turn sustained the Keptl.
Needless to say the ship was a foul mess.

Some more time passed till they located the
stasis chamber. After a steam of water was used to clean the
surface, the visual of a youthful blonde woman under a clear top
laying down could be seem. A needle in her neck had kept her alive
and unconscious. Otherwise she liked asleep. The needle sustained
her body’s nutrients and kept her calm and rested.

A male Medic said “All my readings indicate
she is in good health, but has been in this chamber for seventy
five years, eight months and eleven days. Nanite redundancies have
kept muscle atrophy to a minimum, but she is space born and will be
unable to stand in eight gees like the rest of us. She’ll need
isolation till she gets spliced.”

“
She’s not going anywhere
till I read her mind and touch her core. We need absolute proof she
isn’t a Keptl sympathizer.” Stated Samuel.

“
Hey, Cuz!” from the front
of the ship Blake yelled.

“
Yeah?” he
replied.

“
You’re not going to fucking
believe it.” His cousin, now full grown too came in the back, eyes
wide. “Stars, I can’t believe it either.”

“
Spit it out,
Blake.”

“
I just scanned the last few
logs the crew left and…” the man shook his head. “Stars… this blows
my whole mind.”

“
Tell me what you found
before I slap the back of your head.”

“
Oh right, being a dad makes
you more irritable. Sorry.” Blake took a breath. “Never would have
believed it myself, but the crew has been living
alongside
a Keptl colony
for over a hundred years.”

“
Bullshit. I don’t have time
for games. I must hurry up and return to…”

“
Sam, listen.” Blake grew
serious. “This research group was attacked by a Goliath during a
Keptl battle between two Queens. Have you ever heard Queens
fighting before?” Samuel’s silence and the room of people doing the
same spoke volumes. “Two Keptl groups going against each other
isn’t in any of my records. Yet when the Raptor Marquis was set
upon, a Goliath from the planet they surveyed came up behind and
attacked the other Goliath.

“
By then the ship was dead
in space. The crew was up there for two days before the wounded
Goliath gently grabbed this ship, put it in its mouth and landed on
the surface. From the rapid vid sequence recorded on the logs I
scanned, a Queen with a white shell rather than black waited
patiently outside the airlock for two weeks patiently using
telepathy to coax those inside to come out rather than rip the ship
to pieces as they would normally do… Stars… Sam, for over a hundred
years the researchers lived
among
Keptl.”

“
Inform grandmother
immediately.”

Renee’s voice came to their coms behind and
under the skin of their ear. “Laxus just informed me, Boys. Revive
the woman and collect all the data. Someone splice her the heavy
gravity therapy and bring her to me as soon as she is coherent.
Understood?” they confirmed the order.

The stasis was opened and the woman injected
with the solution before the needle was removed from her neck.
Before the waking shot revived, Samuel touched her slumbering mind
and core of her being to be figuratively floored. “Stars… it isn’t
falsified data. This… Melanie” gesturing to the blonde covered in
cool mist from stasis meeting the warm city air. “did live among
them. In fact she believes them to be friends.”

“
Then why was she alone and
covered in Keptl shit?” Blake wondered while wrinkling his
nose.

“
I better let Grandma hear
it from her mouth.” Sammy cleared his throat. “Wait to wake her
till the therapy on her physical structure is complete.”

“
It’ll take six hours to
strengthen bone density and her vascular system.” Said the
administering Medic.

“
Keep her guarded at all
times and find me a half hour before she wakes. I’m going to catch
up on what the hell they were up to all this time. I’ll be with my
Match and son if you need me.”

Up in the throne Renee shook her head after
doing a read of the woman. It was difficult when thoughts are
muddled by stasis, but it was enough to make her mind spin as she
switched the holographic view from the cargo interior of the Raptor
Marquis to outside where a brightly glowing oval floated in empty
space.

The gateway burned brightly from all the heat
and material it absorbed. Light given off the enormous ring
reflected off the surface of a large sailboat starship she was born
on and mostly grew up in.

Outside those two floating objects there was
almost nothing. What looked like the few stars were actual entire
galaxies. Just a few hundred in view. The area of space located was
far from any nearest form of aid. The vastness staggered the mind.
The nearest object was a rogue planet five million light years
away. This was the endless desert of space. No viable light or
useable resource anywhere to sustain any form of life.

A thought with her chip had the scene yet
again change, this time to the interior of the Dorgenox bridge
where her father and lover sat side by side with two Creelin
scientists and were going over the millions of readings. She
decided she had watched enough when she tapped the soft flesh
behind her right ear. “Call Papa.” A few beeps passed and she
watched onscreen as Pirate King Jake Dorgen touched the same
spot.

“
What can papa do for his
little lass?” said the giant Scotsman in usual brogue.

“
How are things going over
there, Papa. My moron behaving himself?”

“
Aye.” The man chuckled as
Oliver looked at him from the corner of his eye. “So far he’s been
telling me the gateway is in excellent working order and will be
ready for use this time next week once the gateway cools a few
thousand Celsius and settles down for the device he’ll make to
generate the portal to open a window to a new dimension. I’m
enjoying meself too much too. Haven’t been this excited in a
decade. First I see meself helping to hold back an exploding star
yesterday and then prepare to meet me makers. What else can a man
in my line of work complain about?”

“
Well you always tell me
never meet my heroes. They’ll ruin the image. Just don’t set
yourself up for failure, Papa.”

“
I’m no stranger to failure,
Lass. Ye just worry about yerself. Anything else?”

“
Yes, tell Olly once he
takes a break to get his ass back here in six hours. Something big
has come up that I want him to hear and get his opinion on. I don’t
want to distract him while he’s busy.”

“
Will do.” He tapped his
ear, ending the conversation.

Seven hours later a timid looking woman with
blonde hair entered a massive room of dancing fire. Ahead were
about fifty large, curvy women that shared familial traits and
enormous men. Enormous being an understatement. These men made
Hunters she remembered seem absolutely puny in comparison. Yet
nothing prepared her for the massive muscular man with misting
orcher eyes sitting beside a redhead with a circlet over her brow.
And yet there were gigantic black and white cats watching her every
move. The power in this room was intense as she shakily approached
after being dropped off outside a pyramid of all things.

“
Please sit.” Said the regal
woman on the throne radiating power the blonde couldn’t begin to
fathom. A chair grew out from the floor made of metal just for her.
More chairs rose from the ground and the rest of the men and women
used it. The woman noticed similar circlets on the brows of four
other redheaded women. Beside the throne the woman gulped as a
green Drake’s head arched as he laid close. “State your name for
the record.

“
I’m uh… I’m Melanie Barbra
Hannison from Earth, Ma’am. Who…”

“
As you’ve no doubt noticed
the Empire’s gone through a few changes. I’m Queen Renee Void of
Fire. This is my eldest daughter, Queen Isabella Took of Terra. All
of the women in this room with strong glowing or misting eyes are
my daughters and granddaughters to make things easier. This is
Queen Vikki Void of Ice, Soifon Void of Wind and Angie Void of
Water. The five of us run the Empire in the Andromeda galaxy. The
remainder are my grandchildren who could come to hear your tale.”
Renee opted for a soothing smile. “As a researcher you will likely
fall under my domain after I figure out what the hell you’ve been
up to for more than two centuries. And know that Emperor Markeese
Coleson is watching this interview.”

“
Um… may I ask what happened
to my protector escorts? No one will talk to me after I woke
up.”

“
If you are asking about the
Keptl then know I had them all killed soon as we could scan your
ship.” Renee deadpanned. She was as blunt as ever. But didn’t speak
in malice. It was told as a simple fact.

Melanie began to tear up and had to slap her
own cheeks several times while fighting the urge to sob. “You
didn’t even give them a chance did you?”

“
They’ve never given us one
before.” Isabella leaned forward, elbows on knees and chin on her
interlocked fingers. “Are you suggesting those in the ship were
different?”

“
Yes. They were my friends.”
Melanie choked out, but apparently the large group watching knew
this due to a lack of reaction. Not one individual shared a
confused look. “I wish you hadn’t, but I forget there are so many
bad Keptl you’ve never met a good one. Damn Feral ruin
everything.”

“
Good Keptl?” Renee arched
an eyebrow and the woman didn’t even know Renee was carefully
manipulating the small and thin woman’s mind to speak only truth
without being discovered. The Fire Queen had a knack for subtle
telepathy. “Perhaps you best start at the beginning.”

“
It would certainly help
that you don’t think I’m crazy.” Melanie took a deep breath to
steady her nerves as she gave her report.

“
On Earth I was commissioned
by the University of Tennessee among others to specifically
research Keptl behavior, breeding patterns and how they use
themselves to cross space without any use of technology as we know
it. Like Beasts kicked into space by the overgrown grasshoppers. I
was born and raised on an orbiting space station and was considered
a xenobiology prodigy. We wanted to find the enemy home world as
our ultimate goal and try to find any possible variations between
those in the Milky Way and those wherever they come from. We were
given with the fastest and most versatile ship Galicom produced for
our long-term mission. Whatever we needed, it was installed.
Weapons, shields, food… name it, we had it.

“
The mission was
straightforward for many years. Boring, tedious and yet oddly
gratifying. We used powerful passive telescopes that wouldn’t rouse
the hornets’ nest if you will. We stayed just outside enemy
influence. We were for all purposes spies.” She swallowed and the
mountain of a man beside the imposing queen on the gemstone throne
made a gesture and one of the women got up and brought her a glass
of something to drink. “Thank you.” She sipped and her eyes opened.
“Alcohol?”