Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of it characters, they all belong to Disney. I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters, they all belong to AMC and Robert Kirkman. I do not own Destroyermen or any of its characters, they all belong to Taylor Anderson. I do not own Battlestar Galactica 1978 or any of its characters, they all belong to Glen A. Larson and Universal. I do not own Battlestar Galactica, The Re-imagining or any of its characters, they all belong to Ronald Moore and Universal Pictures. I do not own Jurassic Park or any of its characters, they all belong to Universal pictures, Amblin Entertainment, and the estate of Michael Crichton. I do not own Legend of the Galactic Heroes or any of its characters, they all belong to Takaya Kagami.
Escape from Hell?
Chapter 16
Reinhard looked at his best friend and shook his head and then smiled.
"Siegfried, just go with her," he said and Kircheis looked at his friend in shock. He never used his given name!
"Sir..."
"Do I have to make it an order?"
"No," he said and Reinhard saw his lips turn up in the beginnings of a smile.
"Trust me," he said and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I can remember how to put on my uniform."
Kircheis laughed and then he saluted.
"Thank you!" he said quickly turned, and hurried off to get packed. "Reinhard, I'll take good care of her."
"Of that I'm sure," he said to himself.
High Admiral Reinhard von Lohengramm watched his best friend leave, and then he leaned back in command chair and looked into the blackness of space.
Annerose watched as the shuttle maneuvered to rendezvous with her ship and she hurried to the main hatch. A minute later she felt a shutter and then heard a thunk as the shuttle docked. The airlock's outer door opened followed a few seconds by the inner one. She saw Siegfried step through and a moment later he was in her arms. Then her lips lightly touched his.
"Well this just might turn out to be an interesting trip after all," came voice from behind them.
"Nick!"
Their kiss quickly ended and looked back to see a Rabbit and Fox.
"Nicholas P. Wilde," he said and held out a hand. She looked at him for a moment, dropped to her knees, and took his hand. His pads were rough, but then she felt his fur and smiled. She touched the silky fur on his arm and lost herself in the moment. She heard him chuckle and looked up into his green eyes. "You're not the first woman feel my fur."
"Nick!"
"This is my wife," he began, indicating the Rabbit beside him, and winked, "Colonel Judith Laverne Wilde."
Annerose started to feel her face grow warm and then looked at the Rabbit.
"Please call me Judy," she said and smiled.
"Annerose von Grünewald," she said and returned the smile, "but please just call me Annerose." She took Judy's hand and looked into her purple eyes. Then she grinned. "You just so cute!"
Nick roared with laughter and Judy just started to open her mouth.
"We think she's cute too."
Annerose looked up to see a man almost bent double coming through the hatch. Then he stood upright and his head brushed the ceiling. A moment later a large lizard stood beside him.
"Dennis Silva, ma'am," he said and put a hand on his companion's shoulder, "and this is Larry."
"Ma'am," he said and bobbed his head.
"Larry is a Tagranesi," came a voice from the airlock. Larry and Dennis stepped aside and man and Gazelle stepped through the hatch. "Accentually he'd an evolved dinosaur from Earth 3. My name is Robert Muldoon and this is Alejandra Gazelle." Behind them she was several more furred people waited in the air lock. "And these are Lemurian marines also from Earth 3." Then they stepped aside and the Lemurians began to fill the room.
"Annerose, we're your security," Judy said.
"That brother of mine!"
"We had to bring some security," he said and she glared at him. "I have my crew!"
"Are they trained soldiers?"
"No."
"We don't know what we might find out there," he said and took a step closer. "I could call Reinhard have them replaced with imperial security."
"NO!" she said vehemently and he took a step back.
"Annerose," he said hesitantly, "it's about dinnertime and I'm sure they're all in the dining room by now. Maybe we ought to get to know them."
She sighed.
"Ok, let's go," she said, walking passed him, and opened the door and he quickly followed.
Siegfried was correct she immediate realized as they stepped through the door. She noticed the Rabbit, Fox, huge man, lizard, Gazelle, and Mister Muldoon all sat the same table. Siegfried put a hand on her back and whispered to her to proceed and the Rabbit's ears came up and looked their way. Then she waved them over.
"We thought you'd come and we saved a couple of seats for you," Judy said and motioned toward them.
Annerose and Siegfried sat and then something colorful flew over her head and they both ducked.
"Dennis, why'd you bring that little monster!" Judy exclaimed.
"Oh hell ma'am, Petey would've been lonely if I would've left'em," Dennis said.
"Food... eat!" Petey said.
"Language!" Judy said.
"Sorry ma'am!" Dennis said and winked at Annerose.
"It talks," Annerose said and looked a bit closer. "What is it?"
"It's related to the archaeopteryx," Mr. Muldoon said, "according to Dr. Grant."
"And he is?" Siegfried asked.
"He'd one of the leading paleontologists on the Earth we came from," Mr. Muldoon said.
"Robert was the Game Warden for Jurassic Park where they actually resurrected dinosaurs," Alejandra said and hugged him.
"Of course we had plenty of dinosaurs in Earth 3," Dennis said and smiled. "Both Dr. Grant and Dr. Wu were thrilled!"
"And even more thrilled when they found out about the Cylons," Alejandra said and giggled.
"It sounds like an interesting story," Annerose said.
"And somehow I thought we lived exciting lives," Annerose said when they got back to her cabin.
"Me too," Siegfried agreed and they both laughed.
"Walking dead, aliens, Animals that can talk, dinosaurs, wars – several at once, and God only knows what we'll find out there!"
"And I sure it'll be interesting."
"And as long as we'd together my love," she said and leaned over to kiss him.
He pulled her into his arms and their kiss became more passionate. She felt his hands start to wonder over her body and then suddenly he broke the kiss and looked at her. He blushed.
"I'm sorry!"
"Whatever for?" she asked, but was sure she already knew.
"We're not married!"
"You haven't asked," she said and her eyes twinkled.
"You'd marry me!"
"As I said you haven't asked," she said and smiled.
"Will you marry me?"
"Well, let me think about it," she said and looked at her lover for several seconds. "Of course!"
She pulled him close and kissed him again.
"Who would've known we'd have a wedding before we even got started," Nick said and pulled his bunny close.
"We don't have time for that!" she said, poking him in the ribs with each word.
"There's always time for that," he announced and winked. "We'll just be quick."
"You're never quick!"
"Why thank you," he said and grinned. Judy's ears began to turn red. "That's high praise coming from a Rabbit."
Despite herself she laughed and he bent down to kiss her. They made it to the wedding right on time - almost.
"That brother of mine!"
"Annerose, we're on our honeymoon."
"With an escort!" she exclaimed and looked out portal at the Colonial ship. "And we're going the other side of the galaxy no less!"
"It's only one of their smaller destroyers and the galactic core is beautiful," he said and she sighed.
"I know it's not your fault and I shouldn't take it out on you," she said, turning back to him, and hugged him.
Then his arms went around her and they seemed to have a mind their own.
"We can't make love all day," she said.
"We could try," he said and she laughed.
"Whatever happened to that shy young man who blushed every time he looked at me?"
"He married you," he said and she rolled her eyes.
"First, I need to take a shower and then we're going breakfast."
"I could wash you back."
"I remember and we were late."
"Only a little."
"Half an hour," she said and he smiled.
She rolled her eyes again and headed for the bathroom. A moment later he followed.
Judy waved at them when they came through the door.
"Well, there are the love birds!" Nick said and Judy giggled. "How's married life so far?"
The newlyweds looked at each other for a moment and chuckled. Then they sat.
"Just perfect," Annerose said.
"Good," Nick said and put a arm around his bunny. "I tell you a secret." The handsome leaned a bit closer. "We're still on our honeymoon."
"Nick!" she said and give her Fox a playful swat.
He laughed and gave her a squeeze.
"You know Judy made some of her world famous blueberry pancakes," Nick said and waved toward the kitchen, "and we saved you some." A steward brought a serving tray and sat the food before them. "Dig in!"
Several Colonial Raptors were send to scout ahead, but all they'd found in the first two weeks were dozens of barren worlds. There was a bit of hope when on succeeding days they discovered three planets in their star's habitable zone which could be colonized at some future date.
"This is kinda discouraging," she said.
"This galaxy has over four hundred billion stars and intelligent life is rare," Siegfried said and squeezed her hand. "Those habitable worlds were interesting and we did get to 'relax' for a day or two on each of them."
"Your definition of relax is somewhat different than mine," she said and he chuckled.
"I didn't hear any complaints," he said and she kissed him, "and the beach on that second world was quite nice."
"Nor will you and it really was," she said and he smiled. "Any news from Reinhard?"
"Cain had another major victory."
"Which one?"
"Both," he said. "They're working together now."
"That makes me feel sorry for the Centurions," she said and smiled at the look on his face. "Almost."
They both laughed.
"Two of the Raptors are returning in about an hour," he said, looking at his pad computer. "You want to go meet them?"
"Sure."
"Tomorrow we'll be jumping to the next star on our list."
"With our chaperone!" she said and he sighed.
"Your brother only wants us to be safe."
"I'll bet there's another dozen ships out somewhere keeping an eye on us too!"
"I swear that's the only one."
"So you talked to him about it."
"And I talked him into only sending that one."
"I'll bet you he sent others anyway!" she said and all he could do was shrug.
At that same moment tens of thousands of light years away Reinhard sneezed.
"Just another solar system filled with gas giants and barren rocks!" she said, looking at the planet below.
"Yellow dwarf stars make up only a small percentage of the stars in this galaxy and those with correct conditions for life are even rarer," he said, joining her at the viewport. "Even back home we found only a few thousand worlds with life and none with intelligent life at all so far."
"The Colonials did find life in all three universes and all those worlds were nearby all three versions of Earth," she said and looked at her lover. "Maybe we're just simply too close to the galactic core and maybe we ought to be looking on the other side of the galaxy! That massive black hole does put out a lot of radiation. Let's explore from the same distance Earth is from the core and then out toward the galactic edge!" Siegfried had often wondered if she had her brother's tactical sense and his intuition. "So what do you think?"
"No one has been assigned out that far out yet," he said and rubbed his chin, "and with the new jump drive it wouldn't take that long to get out there."
"Let's do it!"
"I'll need to talk to Reinhard first."
"I have a much better idea – I'll just tell him that's what we're going to do!"
"I wonder what Reinhard said when he received my message," Annerose said and smiled.
"I'm sure it was something colorful," he said and she laughed. "We ought to be making our final jump within the next ten minutes."
"What should we do till then?" she said and pulled him close.
He blushed and she laughed again. Then her lips touched his and about ten minutes later they had an experience which few others had.
"Maybe we should make love every time the ship jumps," she said and he smiled.
"Whatever you say my love," he said and she kissed him again.
"I'll hold you to that."
"And I'm sure you will."
He chuckled and pulled her close. When they woke it was morning and they quickly showered and dressed. As always the same six people sat together and they joined them. Then greetings were exchanged and their food was quickly served. After they finished eating they chatted and speculated about what they might find in this part of the galaxy. Just as she rose Nick touched her arm.
"Annerose," he said and she looked into green eyes, "you're pregnant."
Her mouth opened, but she was struck speechless.
"How do you know?!" Siegfried exclaimed and the Fox tapped his snout.
"Fox nose."
"Nick's always right," Judy said.
"I've been around a lot of women."
"And you always enjoy it!" she said and wisely he said nothing on that subject.
"I'll go see the ship's doctor," Annerose said and Nick grinned at her.
"Congratulations!" everyone in the room said.
"He's right!" he doctor announced, looking at the test results. "Congratulations! Everything looked good and Annerose, you should deliver in seven months give or take a week or so."
They both smiled.
"Is anything I need to do?" she asked.
"Have you been pregnant before?"
"No."
"I'll email a list of things you need to do and not to do," he said and type on his computer of a few seconds. Annerose's pad signaled an incoming message. "It's mostly about your diet and exercise."
See opened the message and took a minute to scan though it.
"Thank you doctor," she said and they both stood and shook his hand.
"I'd like to see you every two weeks or sooner if you're not feeling well.
"Of course," she said as the doctor rose and ushered them out.
As they went back to their room her pad signaled again and she opened the message. Siegfried looked at her.
"My first appointment."
They walked in silence until the door opened to their room.
"What are we going to do?"
"We have a meeting with the Colonial Captain about our plans for the survey at 10am."
"You're pregnant."
"and I haven't forgotten."
"You want to continue doing this?" he said and mentioned toward the viewport.
"Of course," she said and looked at him.
"But..."
"Siegfried, I'm pregnant not an invalid!" she said, putting her hands on his hips. "I'll work as long as I feel OK and at some point before I deliver we'll get someone to help. Maybe I'll ask Judy. I've heard that children just love the Rabbits. Maybe she knows someone."
"But..."
"I will take some time off after I give birth."
"Good," he said, but certainly wasn't convinced.
Over the next few months the various explorers in different part of the galaxy did find a greater number of life bearing planets in the yellow dwarf star systems away from the galactic core, but none with intelligent life so far. Reinhard had read each of the reports as their weekly Raptors delivered from Annerose's ship. Of course he read dozens of similar reports daily from the other expeditions across the three different Milky Way galaxies, but those others were summarized and only if they'd found anything interesting. On hers he always read their report in its entirety.
And now she was pregnant and he was going to be an uncle. That news from them made him smile, but he was still worried about them and doubly now that she was going to have a baby. He also thought getting someone to help was a good idea too. The idea of a Rabbit nanny was excellent since who would have more experience with children than one of them. He had to chuckle and then went back to thinking about the war with Centurions.
The number of worlds they controlled was found to be larger than they anticipated and he had to bring in more ships to explore as did the aliens and Colonials. His ships had had a few battles with individual Baseships using Cain's method they had capture almost all of them, but seemed to be taking longer each time to disable them. Apparently the Centurions were learning. The captured Baseships' engines were repaired first and then returned to the Cyrannus star system where the repairs and upgrades would be completed. Also, the newly captured Centurions' programming were wiped and replaced with the operating system that Lucifer had updated.
He looked at his computer and pulled up the plans for a major offensive that they would launch in two months which would push the Centurions back from several hundred worlds and split the Centurions' space into a dozen pieces which they could concentrate forces and then conquer one at a time. He smiled and his mind wondered. I'm going to be an uncle! He thought and smiled again.
"At least there was a civilization on this planet at one time," Siegfried said as they walked though the ruins of a city.
"So what are archeologists saying? Annerose asked.
"Well today they're estimating this intelligent species went extinct around ten to twelve thousand years ago," he said, consulting his pad for the latest reports.
"They did excavate that cemetery," Nick said.
"And they were carbon based and not so different from us," Robert said as he scanned the area for dangers.
"I just don't understand how they could've died out all at once," Annerose said. "Most diseases don't kill everyone and if it did wouldn't we find bodies scatted around or at least in what's left of the buildings?"
"Ten thousand plus years is a long time," Robert said. "Bodies exposed to the elements would've turned to dust long ago. Look at what's left of these buildings," he waved his hand around, "only the foundations. Even the ones with the thickest walls only partially remain."
"Like the Pyramids we saw on Earth 2 and 4," Alejandra said.
"They are only about half as old," Robert said, putting an arm around the Gazelle and giving her a squeeze.
"Maybe someone just picked'em all up and took'em all away," Dennis said and everyone looked at him. "Like you said we didn't found any bodies just layin' around."
"Now that's a unsettling thought," Annerose said.
"But could they've gotten everyone?" Judy said, throwing her arms wide. "Some people could've hidden underground or in the forests."
"Suppose they got ninety-nine percent of the population," Robert said, "and what people were left scattered across the planet individually or in small groups. In twelve thousand years they could've of just simply inbred themselves out of existence."
"Maybe they're hidin' from us," Judy suggested.
"Could they be hidin' in plain sight?" Nick said.
"What do you mean?" Annerose asked.
"We've seen animals on this planet," he said. "What if I were to take off my clothes and just run around on all fours like a wild fox?"
Judy rolled her eyes and everyone else laughed.
"We need to do more extensive scans of the planet," Annerose said and looked at her husband, "and have closer look at the native wildlife."
She winked at Nick.
"What are our Colonial friends saying?" Annerose asked, looking at her husband.
"Their scans do show some large cave systems and they're going to be explored, but their need to bring in specialists and another ship which specializes in planetary surveys." He looked at Judy. "No buried cities so far."
Nick winked at his bunny and she shrugged.
"Another ship," she said and raised an eyebrow.
"It's a quad ship," he said and smiled. "Their technology in this area is quite advanced."
She sighed and then looked at her pad.
"So far all the animals they've tested so far are simply animals," Annerose stated. "Have we any idea what they looked like?"
"The archeologists haven't found any pictures or sculptures in the ruins," Siegfried said.
"As I said a dozen millennia won't leave much behind," Muldoon said.
"How are the biologists doing with the bones?" she asked and her husband looked at his pad and displayed the latest results on the screen at the front of the conference room.
"As you can see they are working with a dozen of the most well preserved skeletons found in cemeteries across the planet," he began and scrolled through several pictures. "They're using similar techniques used in forensic science. Of course it's easier in criminal investigations since they usually know what species is being dealt with and they have the biological data on that particular species. Now since they don't have that information on this species the biologists have to play it by ear. Also, more biological scientists and archeologists have been and are being brought in from each Earth and the Cyrannus star system."
"So what have they got so far?"she asked.
"They were a bit more like the Animals then us humans," he said and glanced at Nick and Judy. "They had two biological sexes and were fur-bearing. Also they were about five to five and half feet tall, but didn't have a muzzle like an Animal."
"Were they predator or prey?" Nick asked.
"Judge for yourself," Siegfried suggested and changed the current picture displayed on the monitor to show a close up of the mouth on several of the skulls.
"Not as large as a Lion or Bear," he said and dropped his jaw to tap his canine teeth, "or as sharp."
"More like an ape or a chimp," Muldoon said.
"Like the movie Planet of the Apes," Judy said and clapped her hands.
Nick rolled his eyes.
"I've never seen it," Annerose said.
"If you have time maybe we can watch it tonight!" Judy said and Nick chuckled. "I meant all of you!"
"Judy's second favorite movie of all time," he said. "We watch it at least once a month."
Everyone smiled.
Annerose and Siegfried went to greet the latest arrivals and watched as several Raptors set down. Humans, Cylons, Quads, and various Animals stepped out on the landing area. The last person was a very tall Rabbit.
"Jill!" Judy yelled and ran to her sister.
Judy leapt and her sister caught her in a hug. Then she leaned back and looked at the sister she hadn't seen in a while.
"How you doin'?" the taller Rabbit asked.
"Great!"
"Where's that scruffy old Fox of yours?"
"Who you callin' old?!" he said and smiled.
The sisters laughed and Nick gave his sister-in-law a wink.
"How you doin' Slick?"
"Pretty good for a scruffy old Fox."
Both sisters laughed again and the others joined them.
"So I'm guessing you know each other," Annerose said and extended a hand.
"Jill Hopps," she said and took the proffered hand.
"My sister is going to be helping you out," Judy said and smiled at the look on woman's face.
Annerose showed Jill to her cabin and after everyone else returned to their duties she stayed to help the Rabbit unpack.
"And yes, I'm the largest Rabbit on record," she said and Annerose blushed.
"Sorry!"
"It's not a problem," she said and smiled. "I've been stared at by humans, Animals, Lemurians, and aliens for various reasons." Annerose cocked her hear and frowned. "Mostly males and mostly human males."
"But you're a Rabbit!"
"That doesn't seem to make any difference," she said, thinking back and then smiling. "I've looked at a few men and thought some of them were quite handsome."
"But you're a Rabbit!"
"And I've had a few boyfriends too," she said and winked, "who weren't all Rabbits." Annerose's blush deepened and it almost rivaled Judy's. Jill chuckled and gently pulled Annerose into a hug. "Do I have some stories to tell you!"
Annerose looked monitor and raised an eyebrow.
"They really did kinda look like apes," she said.
"Not quite as heavily built and that's the conclusion from the biologists too," Siegfried said.
"I wonder why?"
"Convergent evolution," Jill said and everyone looked at her. "I do a lot of reading." She smiled. "Actually I was hoping of large Rabbits myself." Several people laughed and Judy rolled her eyes. "I kinda wonder why Earth 3's natives aren't as technologically advanced as the Cylons." She looked at Larry.
"The Grik weren't very smart until recently," he said.
"Courtney did find some things in Africa on Earth 3 that were more advanced than the Grik's civilization could have created and are far older too," Carl said.
"It's good to see you," Nick said and punched his shoulder. "How are your parents doin'?"
"You too," he said and returned the punch. "Mom and dad are doin' just fine. They just love traveling around and doing security."
"Where are they now?" Judy asked.
"Caprica, last I heard."
"With the new Raptors we've expanded our search area and did find two more habitable worlds," Siegfried said, getting the meeting back on track, "but nothing else except a black hole in orbit of red giant."
"I thought we were only going to yellow dwarfs," Annerose said.
"One of our astronomers noticed a planet being ejected from the solar system from the survey data from a nearby star so she got permission to send a Raptor."
"Might as well do some science too while we're out here," Jill said and winked at Siegfried. "You never know what we might find."
"Just why did two Imperial ships jump into the system?!" Annerose said.
"I have absolutely no idea," Siegfried said and shrugged. "We weren't expecting them."
"Well let's go to communications and find out."
"They're still a light hour out so even if we sent a message it'll more than two hours before we hear back."
"I guess we'll just have to wait till they're a bit closer."
"We're now receiving a message from the new ships," the Communications tech said and turned to Annerose, "but there will still be a ten second delay."
The tech touched a few keys on her screen and the main monitor lit. A Gazelle sitting in the captain's chair filled the screen.
"Maria!" Judy said, surprised.
Ten seconds passed.
"At first we thought we might be in the wrong star system and then found we'd misjumped just a bit," she said and smiled. "This is our shakedown cruise."
"This time delay is annoying!" Judy said.
"You're the Gazelle my brother told me about," Annerose said. "How'd you get Imperial ships?"
"That I am," she said and smiled after the requisite time passed, "and yes the time delay is annoying. I've been thinking about that. As for the ships I bought them."
"Bought them?!"
"The Quads and Cylons have finished fixing the ones they could and now they're building new ones."
"Just anyone can buy them!"
"Annerose, if you have the right amount of precious metals," she said, leaning toward the camera, and her eyes twinkled, "you can buy pretty much anything."
"She's that rich!" Annerose exclaimed.
"Maria was the wealthiest Animal on Earth Prime," Judy said, nodding, "and is now the same in known space. Gazelle Heavy Industries, Gazelle Electronics, and Gazelle Aerospace were the largest corporations on Earth Prime. They were the main contractors for the move to Earth 2 and grew even larger with the occupation, recovery, and reclamation of our new home. There were a lot of undamaged factories, aircraft, ships, and cars and trucks just abandon. There also were a lot of precious metals pretty much just sitting around for the taking. Even after all this time they're still finding stuff."
"And all that from being just a singer!"
"She wasn't called the 'Angel with Horns' for nothin'," Judy said and smiled. "She's also an excellent engineer too and made a lot of shrewd investments with her money. And all that in just five short years."
"The evacuation of your Earth must have slowed things a bit."
"A bit, but not for long," Judy said. "She was fighting the walking dead from the second we ended up on Earth 2 and for the next ten years. She probably killed more of them than anyone else."
"She's right," Carl said and was silent for a moment remembering. "I fought beside her several times and she was impressive and scary at the same time with what she could do with her katana."
"My sister goes all out in whatever she does," Alejandra said and chuckled.
They felt their ship shutter slightly as the shuttle docked and turned toward the airlock. The technicians made sure there was a good seal and opened the inner door and a few seconds later the outer door too. Several techs stepped through first and were soon followed by Maria and two humans.
"Maria!" the Rabbit exclaimed and leapt into the Gazelle's arms.
"It's good to see you too," she said and kissed Judy's cheek which made Rabbit's ears turn red. "I see you brought that handsome Fox of yours too." She set Judy on her feet and then hugged Nick. She looked at the four humans, the Tagranesi, the tall Rabbit, and her sister. "Maria Dixon and this is my husband Daryl and his wife Michonne." Annarose felt her eyebrows rise unbidden and the Gazelle smiled. "Many humans have married Animals and even some aliens too." She looked at her sister. "Haven't you noticed?" Annerose felt her face warm.
"Some of us do find humans very attractive," Alejandra said and hugged Robert.
He looked at his Gazelle and smiled.
"Ma'am," Daryl said, stepping forward.
"Nice to meet you," Annerose said and took his hand. "This is my husband, Siegfried." Then Daryl shook his hand too.
"Michonne," she said, stepping beside her husband, and took they hands too.
"So we're going to talk," Maria said, looking at their hosts.
"Of course," Siegfried said, "this way please."
"So I guess you're wondering why we're here," Maria said and smiled.
"Well that had crossed my mind," Annerose said and returned the Gazelle's smile.
"You're traveling the galaxy giving concerts to whomever you run across," Judy said and giggled.
"So I'm guessing that's your idea of being subtle," the Gazelle said and several people chuckled. Then Judy looked at her with large pleading eyes and Maria rolled hers and sighed. "Ok, sure, why not." The Rabbit clapped her hands and hugged her Fox.
"I'll bet she even has a concert hall and stage on one of her ships," Judy said.
One of the Gazelle's eyebrows rose.
"Actually there's one on each," she said haughtily and Judy giggled. Then she turned her attention back to Annerose. "Actually I think what you're doing is quite interesting and I'm here to help. My companies have analyzed Colonial, Cylon, and Imperial tech and have come up with a number of improvements and they've been included in those two ships."
"So when's your concert?" Judy interrupted.
Maria sighed again.
"Tomorrow!"
Maria certainly deserved the moniker 'the Angel with Horns', Annerose thought as the Gazelle sang and danced across the stage. Then she looked at her husband and he was still blushing! He'd been in that condition since Maria strutted onto the stage and the Gazelle seemed to have taken notice. Now she sang nearly every other song on this side of the stage and directly to Siegfried. Since they sat on the front row it was even more noticeable to everyone else. She leaned over until he lips almost touched his ear, but he was so intent on Maria's performance that he hadn't notice.
"So are you enjoying the show," she asked and he jumped. She guessed that he was and smiled.
"She's very good," he said, looking at her for a moment then his eyes slid back to the Gazelle.
"She's a good dancer too," she said and put her hand on his.
"Yes, she is," he said and his eyes did the same thing again.
She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. After two more songs Maria took a break and first she sat and sipped a drink for a few minutes. Then she came down and walked around the auditorium, starting at the back, and speaking to people in the audience. Eventually she made her way back to the front and came to Siegfried first.
"I noticed you watching me," she said and winked.
"Everyone was watching you!"
"True, but you were watching me very closely," she said and put a hand on his chest. "Remember Gazelles are prey and we're always to watch predators. It's instinctual."
"Well I..."
"He thinks you're very good," Annerose said and smiled.
"Maybe we can talk later when you have some time," she said and his blush grew deeper.
Then she moved on and spoke few other people before taking the stage again. He was quiet for a time and then slowly turned to her.
"Annerose, I..."
"She's a very beautiful Gazelle," she said and smiled.
"But..."
"She's getting ready to begin," she said and squeezed his hand. "Let's enjoy the rest of the concert and we can talk about this afterwards."
Thinking back Annerose found the party afterwards actually more interesting as the concert itself. Maria flowed through the room talking to different people, but always seemed to return to Siegfried. Her husband, Daryl, was always there to glare at him and Michonne only stood there and smiled.
"Maria knows how to throw an interesting party too," Annerose said, raising an eyebrow.
"She does a great many things well," Michonne said with just the hint of a smile.
She returned the other woman's smile.
"Searching for aliens."
"Now that's something new," she said and this time did smile. "When she heard your idea about searching farther from the galactic core that caught her interest."
"And she bought these ships and immediately came here."
"No, she'd gotten the ships beforehand, but we did leave rather quickly," she said and nodded her head. "Maria's more interested in you than your search."
"And I thought she was more interested in my husband," Annerose said in a lowered voice.
Michonne actually laughed.
"Oh she's just having a bit of fun with him," she said and winked. "He was blushing so much that she could probably even see him in the dark."
Annerose laughed.
"I could," she said and then they both laughed.
Annerose was wiping tears from her eyes when she felt a presence behind her. She turned and looked into white fur. Then she looked up into the face of a tiger and jumped.
"Mike, how many times have I told you guys not to sneak up people?!" Michonne said, poking him in the chest with each word.
"A few."
"More like a few dozen!" she said and the Tiger smiled, showing his impressive dentition. "So why are you here scaring people?"
"Maria would like to see you both on the bridge."
The Tiger walked behind them and Siegfried had put an arm around her protectively. Occasionally he kept glancing back as Michonne led them to their destination. Annerose smiled to herself the entire way.
"There you are," Maria said as they entered the ship's bridge, "and I see Siegfried came along too."
The Gazelle smiled and Annerose glanced at her husband and chuckled. Maria came over and ran a hand along his jawline.
"He's so handsome," she said and he blushed, "and I do love his red hair too."
She winked and then looked at Annerose and smiled. Daryl glared at Siegfried and Maria chuckled.
"Annerose...," he began.
"We'll talk about it later," she said and then looked back to the Gazelle.
"Anyway I have news," Maria said. "Before we arrived I sent six Raptors on ahead and twenty minutes ago one reported back they had found an advanced spacefaring civilization."
"Where?!" Annerose asked without thinking.
"Only eighteen hundred and twenty-three light years from here."
"How advanced?" Siegfried asked.
"They have FTL, but it's kinda slow."
"Like the Quads had?"
"Slower, but they are in at least three solar systems," Maria said.
"I think we should go there as soon as possible!" Siegfried exclaimed and the Gazelle smiled.
"We think so much alike," she said and patted his cheek.
He blushed.
'As soon as possible' it wasn't since they had to retrieve the dozens of scientists from the planet along with their security contingents. Of course their work and everything else had to be packed up and brought up to the ships too. Also some scientists elected to stay to continue their work on the dead civilization that had once existed on the planet. Since this all would take several days several more Raptors would be sent ahead to scout the three solar systems.
Annerose and Siegfried had quick conference with the ship's Captains to get things moving and then finally retired to their cabin. Jill had tidied up and turned down their bed and even left a few snacks and drinks, but nothing alcoholic since Annerose was still months from her delivery date. They both took a quick shower and then slipped into bed.
"So apparently you enjoyed Maria's concert a lot," she said, looking into his eyes.
"She sings very well."
"And she dances well too."
"Yes."
"And she's a beautiful Gazelle," she said and smiled as his blush flared to life.
"True."
"And she seems to like you too."
"That's not my fault."
"Nor did I say it was," she said and leaned over to kiss him.
He pulled her close.
"You're starting to show."
"Soon I'll be as big as a house."
"I love you."
That was always the correct response, she thought.
Four days later they jumped just outside the Oort cloud of the solar system with least amount of activity and then jumped stealthy probes into the system, compliments of Maria. Periodically they would return to dump the data they'd collected and jump back.
"Too bad we don't have FTL communications," Annerose said.
"One of my companies is working on it," Maria said, still looking at the last batch of data, "but it looks like it'll take a few years."
"So you were doing just a bit more than just thinking about it."
The Gazelle laughed and turned to her.
"I just don't want to spread myself too thin."
"I'll bet."
She laughed again.
"There are people smarter them me."
"Really," Annerose said in a disbelieving voice and grinned.
Maria rolled her eyes and returned to the data. After an hour studying more data from three more returning probes and she stood and stepped to the front of the bridge.
"One of the probes has found a ship in the asteroid belt between the fifth and sixth planets," she said, putting a picture of the ship on the main screen. "As you can see it near one of the asteroids the computer gives a ninety percent chance that it's a mining ship."
"Compared to our ships how large is it?" the Captain asked and a few seconds later the main screen showed the ships relative sizes. "It's quite a bit larger than this ship."
"It is," Maria said.
"Now the fun begins," Annerose said.
A week later Annerose's ship, one of Maria's ships, and several Raptors jumped into the system just outside the asteroid belt and five light minutes from their target. Then they immediately went under full thrust to match the speed to an asteroid near the other ship. It had been decided to use Annerose's ship for first contact since it wasn't a warship and although it was lightly armed its weapon weren't as noticeable, but it did have electromagnetic shields which had been upgraded so they were comparable to any Imperial warship's.
The week's preparation time was necessary for the humaniform Cylons and their AIs to decipher and create a translation matrix for the newly discovered species and the various languages used among the allies. They'd even gone so far as to send various stealthy Raiders to the solar system's single habitual planet to tap into their various computer networks to gather data. In doing so they gathered a great deal of information on their politics, culture, and form of government. Of course some things were missing.
"I thought there'd be more asteroids flying around than just that one," she said and pointed to the large one they hid behind.
"You've been watching too many bad science fiction movies," Maria said and Siegfried chuckled. She stared at her husband.
"There are a lot of rocks in the average asteroid belt," Siegfried said, "but they are usually quite a distance apart from one other."
"You could fly a ship though the belt and most lightly not hit anything," Maria said. "Of course the ship's shields would simply deflect all the smaller rocks and you could simply dodge the larger ones."
"Somehow I kinda feel disappointed," she said and Maria chuckled.
"Maybe after we're done we can go have a look at a few of the more interesting ones," he said and put and arm around his wife's shoulders.
"It's getting close to time for us to go meet the aliens!" Maria said.
Annerose laughed.
"A ship just entered our sensor's outmost limit," the tech said and the Captain came over to look at the monitor herself. "Currently it's too far to get a good reading on it."
"Heading?"
"Directly toward us."
The Captain looked at the monitor for a few more seconds and then rubbed her muzzle.
"Keep an eye on it and let me know when you have more information on it."
"Yes ma'am."
The Captain returned to her duties which consisted of mostly paperwork and Sensor tech continued to monitor the approaching ship. After an hour the ship's sensors provided much more data on it.
"Captain," the tech said and she looked up, "you need to see this now!"
This pronouncement caused multiple heads to look the tech's way. She rose and went to sensor station.
"What have you found?"
"That ship matches none of our designs."
"Then it's an unknown."
"Yes, ma'am," the tech said. "The protocol for unknowns is..."
"I know exactly what they are," the Captain said and turned to Communication's station. "Send the message." She looked back to the sensor tech. "When will the ship arrive?"
"Three hours, ten minutes, and twenty seconds if continues at its current speed."
"It would've been a lot faster if we just jumped there," Annerose said.
"And we've probably scarred the devil out of them," Maria said and smiled. "This way can just see us coming and we can appear harmless."
"Ma'am, we're now close enough to send a message," the Communications officer said and smiled, "without that annoying delay."
Annerose chuckled.
"Please do."
The main screen brightened and face of other ship's Captain appeared.
"Ma'am," the Communications tech said, "we receiving a message from the intruders both video and audio using our formats!"
"Main screen!" she said and the faces of two different alien species appeared.
"Hello," the one the long neck said. "We are here..."
"Fire!" the Captain ordered and a metal slug was fired from their railgun.
"Jump the ship!" Siegfried ordered and its AI jumped to the far side of the other now hostile ship before he'd finished uttering the words. "Find that weapon and destroy it!"
The blisters concealing their weapons popped opened and sensor data was provided to the AI controlling the ship's weapons. It selected its own railgun and less than a second later an explosion bosomed on the other ship and its weapon and a chunk of the hull spun way. Seeing this, a stealthed Raptor which had been shadowing them jumped back to the Imperial warship which had accompanied them in system. After reporting it was sent to the other ships waiting outside the Oort cloud. Again after reporting it was sent on another similar mission.
"It's gone!" the sensor tech exclaimed.
"Destroyed?" the Captain asked.
"No ma'am," he said. "There was a flash a few seconds after we fired and it was just gone!"
Then the felt their ship shudder and a second later a distant explosion."
"Report!"
"Our railgun has been destroyed and the hull nearby is now open to space!" he said and tapped on his keyboard. "Airtight doors have automatically sealed off that section of the ship."
"Deploy our other weapon!" she said to the weapons officer.
"Captain, I think that flash was their method of FTL and if so our weapons have no effect."
She looked between the two officers for a moment.
"Fire!"
The AI watched as a portion of the other ship's hull opened and a missile launched. Then it immediately set two of its railguns to rapid fire mode and a second later six slugs of depleted Uranium were traveling a hundred miles a second toward their target. The missile detonated less than a half a mile from its launch point, but its fireball was over a mile in diameter. On the bridge of Annerose's ship the main screen flared white and then reset. Five seconds later it showed the other ship with a large piece now completely missing and the edges of the remaining hull now glow a cherry red. Just after the fireball had dissipated the Maria's Imperial warship and the Raptors arrived. Thirty seconds later all the other ships arrived from outside the Oort cloud.
"What was that?!" Siegfried yelled.
"An antimatter explosion," the sensor tech said. "Our shields protected us from the gamma rays, but some of our external cameras and sensors have been burned out by the light from the explosion."
"Prepare to jump!" he said.
"There are injured people over there!" Annerose said.
"No, there are most lightly all dead people over there."
"Our ships are arriving," the sensor tech announced as the main screen displayed the flashes of light.
"Advise them of the situation and have everyone prepare to jump out of this system," he said.
"No!" Annerose said.
"There could be more antimatter over there!"
"Then let's move to safe distance and wait for... let's say twenty minutes."
Siegfried sighed.
"Contact the other ships and tell them to move to five thousand miles from that ship," he said.
"And send probes to inspect it," she said.
"Ten Baseships have just jumped in," the sensor tech said.
"Incoming message from the Cylons," the Communications tech said.
"By your command," Lucifer said as his face appeared on the main screen. "What has happened?"
Those next twenty minutes seemed to drag on forever.
"Most power has now failed throughout the still intact parts of that ship," the sensor tech said.
"If they have any more antimatter over there and its containment fails..." Seigfreid began.
"There'll be another explosion," Annerose finished. "We all know that. Now we need to get over there and start rescuing people!"
"I volunteer my Centurions," Lucifer said.
"And we'll definitely need them to clear away debris and protect the rescuers along with our marines," Siegfried said.
"You may bring the injured to my ship," the Colonial Captain said.
"And my ship too," both Captain's of Maria's ships said simultaneously.
"We can bring some of least injured here," Annerose said.
"The uninjured will need to be kept in detention," Siegfried said.
"My ships have brigs," Maria said and Annerose audibly sighed.
"Let's get to work!" Siegfried said.
The probes had found intact airlocks on undamaged parts of the ship and the rescue ships used them to gain access once the airtight doors had been forced open. Surprisingly two quite different species where found one of which was immediately recognized from the planet they'd been surveying before they'd arrived there.
"Slaves!" Annerose spat.
"The Empire has had to deal with them before," Siegfried said.
"That old bastard kept me as a slave!"
"But..."
"Do you think I had any choice when the Kaiser wanted me?!"
"No," he said and looked at the floor. "I suppose not."
"Even a gilded cage is still a cage, damn it!" she said and he gently pull her into his arms.
"I can never say that I'll understand, but you're with me now."
She took his face in her hands and kissed him.
Three hours later four ships came out of FTL a five thousand miles from the asteroid and were immediately surrounded, but at a safe distance. When they were contacted antimatter missiles were immediately launched and were destroyed at a safe distance from any of the ships. Then Raptors jumped behind each ship and fired their own missiles wrecking each of the four ship's engines. They began to drift and were contacted and given the chance to surrender. One of the ships was immediately consumed in a fireball while the others continued to only drift. Then they made contact.
"We are willing to surrender," the person said, appearing on the main screen of each ship.
"Sorry we don't believe or trust you," Siegfried said, his words being translated. "We come near your ship and you destroy yourselves and us."
"But..."
"You may continue to drift."
Later another ship went up in a fireball.
"God, it's going to be like fighting the Japanese again!" Judy said and then sighed.
"Actually it'll probably be worse," Nick said and then put a hand on hers, "cause they really do have a way to kill lot of us."
"The Japanese did too."
"But our armor protected us from almost everything they could throw at us."
"Thank God they didn't have that many tanks!"
"Time for the meeting," he said and put arm around his bunny.
They met on Lucifer's Baseship since it was the most well protected ship in their ad-hoc fleet. They'd sent out stealthy Raiders and Raptors as pickets in all directions to give early warning of incoming ships and several others to keep eye on the single habitable planet. Annerose stood and looked over attendees.
"We finished the evacuation of the original alien ship and the Cylons are now conducting survey of its systems and computers," she said and Lucifer stood.
"So far we've discovered that they are not as technologically sophisticated as we are," he said. "So we," he indicated himself, the humaniform, and reptilian Cylons, "had no problem accessing all their computers and systems. We've learned a great deal about both species. The slaves were discovered here in this solar system when the 'master race' as they call themselves."
"Where have we heard that before," Judy muttered not too quietly.
Sounds of agreement were heard around the room.
"The slaves have told us a great deal," he continued. "They know they were brought from somewhere else, but don't know when or why. We've told them what we know."
"They must've had some written records," Nick said.
"Their masters destroyed everything after they arrived."
"Why didn't they kill them like they tried with us?" Siegfried asked.
"They weren't beyond them technologically as we are," Lucifer said.
"So now we have to make a decision on what do next," Nick said.
"We're staying and we're going to free these people," Annerose stated vehemently, thumping the table, "and we'll send word back to Earth 4 our situation."
"We really don't need another war," Siegfried said.
"Maybe not, but now we do."