Last of the Immortals (The Jessica Keller Chronicles Book 3) (34 page)

“Can you make a stable orbit?” Jessica asked.

“Eventually,” he replied. “For now, we’ll definitely miss the planet and everything in orbit. If the Red Admiral comes back for more trouble, we’ll be there.”

“Roger that, Robbie,” Jessica said. “Be safe.”

“Will do. Make sure you catch that bastard, Jessica.”

She closed the channel. There was nothing more to say at that.

Two years, no, nearly three years coming, if you counted back to
Third Iger
.

The two of them had been headed towards a confrontation like this. Now it just remained to see which of them would survive.

Ξ

“Hey,
Kitten
,”
Furious
said, watching her scanners closely. “Is the Blackbird slowing down?”

It had sucked, losing
Brightoak
. That was a whole lot of firepower to suddenly leave on the bench.

“Hang on, Cho,” her wing leader said.

Furious
guessed she had bipped over onto the command channel to ask the dragon lady.

“That’s an affirmative,
Furious
,”
Bitter Kitten
said a few moments later. “Looks like the Red Admiral realized that we just lost our sword arm.”

“We’re still gonna blow right by him. Should we slow down?”

“Negative,”
Bitter Kitten
said. “We’ll stay on this track, do your rotation–on–the–gyros trick, and then stand the fighters on their asses at full thrust and let him walk right by us while we’re firing.”

“Sounds stupid,
Kitten
.”

“You want to live forever, kid?”

Chapter LXV

Date of the Republic June 16, 394 Alexandria Station, Ballard

It were like being in one of those bad nightmares you couldna wake from, running trapped down a long hallway, waitin’ for the bogey–man to jump out and git her.

Moirrey glanced down.

At least, if it was a dream, it weren’t the
went–to–school–without–any–clothes–on–today
dream. That would just kinda suck double right now.

Suvi’d obviously built herself a body that didn’t get tired. She were jogging lightly down one of the long halls, not the least bit winded, while a
too–damned–old–fer–this
twenty–six year–old engineer huffed and labored along to keep up.

Definitely going back to jogging around the flight deck in the morning. This just sucked.

Little miss perfect boobs and perfect butt over there didn’t help
.

“They’re only perfect because I got to design them that way,” Suvi said tartly. “There are things you could do…”

Oh, crap. And now we’re muttering out loud apparently, as well
.

“Still no fair,” Moirrey said defensively as she jogged.

“Yeah, but you don’t have the whole galaxy looking to kill you, either, pipsqueak,” Suvi said, perhaps a touch harshly.

But could you blame the woman? The Red Admiral had come near clear across space to blow this place up.

They came to a hatch that separated them from the next ring out.

“Wouldn’t the poles be closer than the equators?” Moirrey gasped as she put her hands on her knees and tried to breathe.

“Yes,” Suvi replied calmly. “Would you care to run up ninety flights of stairs? I’m sure as Hades not getting into an elevator when it might get stuck because the fabric of the station twisted. Plus, most of the remaining escape systems are located on the equator. Station crew and university staff tended to blow free from the poles.”

Moirrey shrugged as much as she could without actually removing her hands from her knees. She thought she sounded like a badly tuned land vehicle at a stop light. Felt like one, too.

“We’ll get there, Moirrey,” the perfect, beautiful, Irish–babe android said warmly.

Moirrey gave up trying to hate her. It were too much effort. Especially after all the crap she’d been through today.

Suvi turned and placed her hand on the access controls.

“This was so much easier when I could do it telepathically, you know,” she said with a wry smile.

Around them, under them, engulfing them, an earthquake snuck up.

Moirrey felt her face take on a panicked look.

At least, it were a thumping shock and not a roller
.

Oh, double crap. That were incoming fire. Red Admiral’s here. We’re outta time
.

The hatch moved open about a hand–span and froze with a grinding squeal and a bit of smoke. The same shock as wrenched the door dumped her on her butt on the cold deck.

Suvi barely noticed, of course.

Moirrey watched a moment of decision come over the android–babe’s face as they locked eyes.

Suvi nodded, mostly to herself, and reached a hand through the gap to grab onto the metal. She placed her other hand flat on the doorway and braced her feet.

Moirrey liked to have swallowed her tongue when Suvi flexed those petite shoulders and perfect hips, and the door moved, grinding slowly, metal on metal, until the gap about tripled and something hung. Nothing moved after that.

Suvi turned and smiled down at her, offering a hand up that nearly lifted her clear off the deck.

“Better?” Suvi asked, glancing at the opening. “You can fit through without any boob–squish. It’s going to be a little more painful for me.”

She thrust Moirrey sideways to the gap and then waited as the engineer slid through.

Moirrey slid through easily and then looked back as Suvi started to emerge.

Yup, major boob–squishage
.

“So does that hurt?” Moirrey asked carefully, pointed at the taller woman’s chest. This were all new ground. “And how did you open the door? Your design looked human.”

“It is human, Moirrey,” Suvi replied as she twisted painfully and got her other breast clear.

She reached out a hand and took Moirrey’s in hers, tugging her lightly along as they continued down the hallway.

“All of my external parts can pass for human.”

“
All
of them?” Moirrey asked, surprised.

Wow, the design really were human. Androids could blush
.

“Yes.
All
of them,” Suvi said quietly, picking up the pace. “I even have a device in my chest that mimics a heartbeat and a pulse.”

“And the door?”

“Moirrey,” Suvi continued, suddenly dead serious. “I’ve been alive for over six thousand years. There have been a lot of people who wanted to kill me over that arc of time. I’ve survived on luck and good friends, like you. And I have given this planning a tremendous amount of consideration over the decades. There was no reason at all to limit my infrastructure to merely human, so I did not.”

“So is the galaxy safe, with you loose?” Moirrey asked carefully, almost sideways.

Suvi stopped in the middle of the hall

“The galaxy is fine, Moirrey,” she whispered into the shorter woman’s ear as she pulled her into a sudden, warm hug. “I want to be safe.”

She released Moirrey and moved again, still hand in hand.

Moirrey found new reserves of energy to keep up as the station vibrated again with another hit.

Safe. Didn’t everyone want that
?

Chapter LXVI

Imperial Founding: 172/06/16. Ballard system

“Outer engagement envelope in sixty seconds, Admiral,” the navigation officer called out. “
Auberon
will be within firing range and arc in twenty seconds.”

“Shut the engines down now,” Emmerich called. “Use the gyros and maneuvering thrusters to come around to three–zero–zero and prepare to engage. I want four primaries on the station, and two on
Auberon
, rapid fire, until I say otherwise.”

All of the missiles he had fired at the station had not been a waste of time, precisely. They had served two purposes on launch. First, one might have actually managed to get through, although he had not counted on it. Second, all twelve local fighters and the two patrol cutters had been forced to stay back defensively to protect the platform. None of them had any speed to try to catch him now.

Speaking of…

“Sensors,” he bellowed over the noise of his men exchanging orders and plans. “Where are those two fighter craft?”

They were annoying mosquitos, having long–since launched all their missiles. Their guns might be painful, but not lethal. Still, he had defensive batteries remaining that could use the experience. It was rare that a fighter craft survived his escorts long enough to threaten a battleship, even at the speed those two were closing.

Today was hopefully the only exception.

“Crossing our beam shortly, Admiral. Should we engage with missiles?”

“Negative,” Emmerich said. “Guns only. Continue sending missiles at the station until we are clear.”

What did two melee fighters think they were going to do against him?

The lights flickered, blinked, surged, stabilized.

“Incoming primary fire from
Auberon
, Admiral. Shields damaged but intact.”

Damn, that was amazingly–accurate fire at this range and rate of closure.
Auberon
wasn’t dead astern, where they would be at rest relative to each other for a dead–easy shot, but was instead coming up on him from his port rear quarter. At this speed, they would be in range for an even shorter period than he would have with the station.

But the station could not fire back.

The first two port wing primaries let loose as
Amsel
’s bow pivoted to bear. One miss. One hit. Shields tattered over there, but
Auberon
held. That would not last long.

Emmerich ignored Keller and turned his attention back to the station, slowly growing larger in his projection.

Soon, you witch. I will kill you and dance on your grave
.

Chapter LXVII

Date of the Republic June 16, 394 Above Ballard

It was time.

Jessica counted the range and did the math. She would have barely two minutes to engage Emmerich Wachturm as she blasted laterally across his wake. Either they killed the Blackbird right now, or Moirrey and the
Sentience
died.

It had been complete radio silence from the station for too long. She had to assume everyone over there was either already dead, or would be when the station died.

Auberon
’s hull rang suddenly as her primaries found the range. Jessica wasn’t sure who was actually firing.

She had been blessed with two fantastic gunners, Aleksander Afolayan on the bridge and Tobias Brewster down on the emergency bridge. At
Qui–Ping
, Brewster had saved their butts. Hopefully, there would be nothing for him to do today but be prepared.

On her projection,
Amsel
lit up as two bolts of ravening fire tagged her on the behind, like wasps nailing a dozing horse. That had to have hurt. There had been just too much fire exchanged today. Everyone was punch–drunk by this point in the evening

From the surface of
Ballard
below, it must look like two pantheons of deities going at each other with swords and lighting bolts in the most magnificent war of heaven ever.

I have become the Twilight of the Gods
.

Auberon
rolled on her axis like an alligator with prey in her mouth, still firing like a mythological beast. Two bolts from
Amsel
hammered home as she did, tearing into a whole new shield facing with a sound like hammers on an anvil.

Hopefully, these generators have had a nice quiet day so far. Everything else must be on the verge of overload by now
.

The Blackbird didn’t have the option to roll. When he had turned to fight her, the Red Admiral had given up the initiative to do that. He would have to keep his guns on a single plane if he wanted to hit
Alexandria Station
at all.

Or you could turn completely away and come after me, you bastard
.

Jessica smiled at the thought.
Auberon
would probably die if the Red Admiral had the courage of his convictions, but he would die shortly after that.
Brightoak
was close behind, just waiting for her chance. And
Stralsund
would be ready to return to battle before the Blackbird could get another chance at
Alexandria Station
.

All that damage done, all those lives, and you would have failed, Emmerich
.

Come. Dance with me
.

Jessica longed to make this completely personal.
Valse d’Glaive
in a simple ring. Nobody else. Just her and the red daemon from her nightmares.

The blood lust was almost overwhelming.

But she still had a war to win.

Emmerich Wachturm did not get to kill Suvi.

Simple as that.

“Tactical, this is Keller,” she said with an outward calm at odds with her soul. “What’s our timing on
Bitter Kitten
and
Furious
?”

“Any second now, Commander,” Tamara replied quickly. “There.”

She would have to check the logs tomorrow to be sure.

Auberon
’s primaries both lashed out at once. One of them actually got through, touching metal in a sudden rainbow of molten metal and burning, freezing air.

At almost the same moment, both of Moirrey’s upgraded Archerfish missiles let loose with their Type–3 beams. One of them scored
Amsel
’s forward flank shield. The other one found the gap in Wachturm’s protection.

It went in like a saber into the battleship’s side. Jessica nearly howled with glee as
Amsel
rocked hard and began to tumble to starboard, running lights flickering on and off over the entire hull as the battleship spasmed.

Bitter Kitten
and
Furious
were there as well, angry little hornets pouring their vitriol into the big whale’s stern as they blasted past her, rolling down and backwards on their gyros like
Rajput
would if he was here, and then slowing as they overloaded their engines to extend the chase.