Chapter 22

And there went out another horse that was red:
And power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth,
And that they should kill one another:
And there was given unto him a great sword.
- Revelation -

Angie smiled at Marty when he and Ninja returned to the command deck. "You and Ninja are now considered heroes by the Draks. The commander told me what you did."

"We're just doing our job," he said. He looked at Ninja. "Right, Ninja?"

"Right, Martin."

Marty sat down at his navigational station. "Where to next?"

"We're going to a system that the Drak commander said could be a Dragon base. They have to go back to their home world to re-supply, or they would check it out."

"It's as good as any lead we've gotten so far," Marty said.

"Take us up to jump speed, Delphi," Angie said. "Align with the new star."

"Yes, Angie."

The engines strained with the task of accelerating the X-4001 up to two tenths the speed of light, a necessity before jump commenced. This process took on average about eighteen minutes.

"Did you take your medicine?" Marty asked Angie.

"Of course, but I feel like my hormones are ready to crap out. I'm lactating again and I feel like I could just jump out of my skin."

Marty gave her a smart-ass grin. "I am at your service, ma'am. I have lots of experiences milking female teats."

"Actually, Onuki suggested that."

Both of his eyebrows shot up. "She did?"

"I think that she's trying to get us to . . . you know."

"I wonder what that would be like while in a singularity."

Angie smiled. "You're crazy."

"Yeah, crazy like a fox."

"Are you still milking Masai and Mosai?"

"Not on a regular basis," Marty replied. "I've been away more than I've been here. They do it themselves."

"Maybe I could have them do me."

"Ask them. I'm sure that they'll do it."

The deck began to rotate and elongate, ending their conversation.

The jump proceeded normally, and at its completion, the crew took their stations.

"That's a young K6 red star with a 4020 K temperature," Karl said. "It has a 0.8 mass relative to Sol, a 0.9 radius and a 0.4 luminosity."

"There's a planet at 0.7 AU," George said.  "It appears to have a 0.8 radius and a thinner atmosphere compared to Earth."

"That planet has oxygen and water," Anna said.

"Take us to the planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"I have detected a Drak ship in orbit around the planet," Ninja said.

"Are they attacking the planet?" Angie asked.

"The situation on the ground is not known. We are too far out."

"Take us to safe maximum speed, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

###

The alien planet appeared peaceful, but it was obvious that it was the location of conflict. Surface scans indicated weapons discharges and energy spikes, and telescopic views showed Draks and Dragons locked in combat.

"This is a Dragon farm," Marty said, pointing to an image of the surface being displayed on the main screen.

"There is a battle between a Drak landing party and the Dragon defenders in progress," Ninja said.

"Take a landing party down there and help them out," Angie told Marty.

Marty stood up. "Ninja, Uma, Lia, Andy, Tiana, Taka, Tara, Mara and Moko, let's go."

While the elevator was plunging to the equipment deck, Ninja had a suggestion. "We should take more Drak females. We'll need them."

"Yes, I agree," Marty said.

The landing party suited up in armor and checked out assault rifles, mortars and grenade launchers. The Drak contingent was augmented with twenty more of their species.

"We'll attack in two groups," Marty said, pointing to a map of the base camp. "Ninja will take one group and I'll take the other. We'll attack the Dragons defending the East and West locations simultaneously."

With orders on the table, the landing party boarded a battle Lander and Marty prepared it for launch. When he had cleared the main ship, Marty fired breaking engines to plunge down into the atmosphere, and he wasted no time in leveling off and landing near the camp. The Drak soldiers were engaged in a firefight with Dragons at the North gate of the camp, but it was obvious that they were not making much progress.

Ninja led Taka, Tara, Mara and Moko plus ten more Drak females to the East fence of the base. Marty led Uma, Lia, Andy and Tiana plus ten Drak females to the West fence. On the sync time agreed upon, he had his troops open fire. The added clout changed the battle. Dragons were quickly put on the defensive.

Marty moved his group up to a position near the fence. A well-placed rocket powered grenade blew a large hole in the fence and provided an attack point. In the rush to the opening, two Drak females were hit and fell. Marty ran to their aid, patching them as best he could.

Lia, Andy and Tiana stayed back to cover Marty while Uma rushed into the camp with the other Drak females. A Drak female accompanying Uma got hit and fell. Uma and another Drak went to her aid while the battle continued on into the camp. She and the two Drak female were left alone, a fact that Marty was unaware of. Having been provided with a convenient escape route, many Dragon soldiers escaped through the very opening that Marty and his group had provided.

Uma looked up at a weapon pointing at her face. Several Dragon soldiers were standing over her and there was little she could do about it. At first, she thought that they were just going to kill her outright, but it soon became clear that they wanted to take her and the two Drak females prisoner.

"Get up, Earth woman," a Dragon growled. His voice was gravely and harsh.

Uma was startled by the fact that he could speak English so well. She had assumed that they knew nothing about humans. It turns out that she was in error.

The Dragon soldiers locked Uma's arms behind her with a plastic tie and marched her off to a waiting ship with the two Drak females. She and the two Draks were thrown into a closed chamber. She had no idea where they were taking her, but she was sure that her fate would not be pleasant.

Marty and his group met up with Ninja and his group near the middle of the camp. The Drak soldiers joined them. They were astonished to see Drak females with weapons.

"We did not know that you use our females in battle," the Drak commander said.

"We have no choice," Marty told him. "They fight well and we need all of the people we can get."

A Drak soldier came forward. "Some of the enemy has escaped in a ship."

"Alert our ship in orbit," the commander said.

The soldier saluted.

Marty looked around. "Where's Uma?"

"I don't know," Lia said. "She stayed back to help a fallen Drak at the opening."

"They took three prisoners," the Drak soldier said. "Two Drak females and one of your females."

Marty keyed his mic. "Hey, Angie, Uma and two Drak females have been taken prisoner. They were taken in a Dragon ship that took off from the surface."

"We saw that ship," Angie said. "We figured that it was just a scout ship and not worth pursuing."

"Shit!"

###

Uma didn't like the idea of being locked up in a chamber with no water, no food and no facilities. Worse yet, she didn't like being taken somewhere in secret. It was equivalent to being lost without hope of being found.

"I have no idea where we are," Uma said.

The two Draks had no idea either. They remained calm despite that fact that their death was imminent.

"Are you not worried?" Uma asked them.

One of the Draks, Voto, looked at her with steely eyes. "We have done our part to fight the creatures you call Dragons. We are not afraid to die. It is our destiny."

"I'm not afraid to die either, but I don't like the idea of some ugly alien skinning me alive."

"Perhaps we can die with honor," the other Drak, Veta, said. "We can rush them at the right time and make them kill us with weapons."

"Perhaps we can take out one of them," Voto said.

"Yes," Veta said. "We will make it our goal."

"I honor you," Uma said. "You are brave."

"It is our way," Voto said.

After several hours, the door to the chamber opened and Dragons with weapons forced Uma and the two Draks to come out. When they exited the Dragon ship, Uma and the two Draks found themselves at a farm. Many human eyes followed her and the two new prisoners as they were led up to a building that Uma assumed was the command center. Once inside, the two Drak females were stripped and taken away. Uma found herself alone among a group of Dragon solders that eyed her with covetous reptilian eyes. Their alien stares gave her goose bumps. After several minutes a new Dragon male came into the room and issued an order, and two Dragon soldiers cut all of her clothing off with knives, scaring her when the knives came very close to cutting her.

The Dragon aliens looked at her as if she were an object, not a living breathing being. She felt isolated and vulnerable. It was if these alien bastards were raping her with their eyes.

"You are from the Earth vessel that has opposed us," the obvious leader Dragon said. "I will enjoy processing you for your meat."

"Why must you eat us?" Uma cried. "We do not eat other intelligent species."

"That is not true. You eat the flesh of animals, some of which are intelligent. Your species kills for sport and for gain. You leave deceased bodies on your battlefields to rot. To us this is a waste. We do not bury our dead. We process their bodies for materials necessary for our life. What you do is an abomination."

"I am not a cow," Uma cried. "Why do you want to butcher me?"

"When I look at you I see several delicious meals for me and my family. Your skin will make a fine garment for my mate. You will provide me with the pleasant task of processing your living body."

"I am not a meal!" Uma yelled. "Why do you say that?"

"On the contrary, you are a tasty delicacy. I look forward to eating you."

Uma was taken away bawling. She was escorted to a building where other human prisoners lived until they were processed. Taking pity on her, they provided her with minimal clothing, simple rags that they had made from cloth provided by their jailers.

"We heard that you come from a ship that has been going around rescuing humans from these damn butchers." a man said.

"Yes, but I have no idea where the ship is or if they can find me," Uma said. "I was captured in a battle on a planet that had a Dragon farm much like this one."

"We were taken from our homes," a woman said. "We have no idea how we got here."

"Why are they killing us for food?" another woman asked.

"We, the pseudo humans, and a few other alien species are their only food source," Uma said. "They have been doing this for centuries."

"I hope that your ship comes to rescue us," a man said. "I don't like the idea of being some ugly alien's meal."

"I can only hope that Martin will rescue me," Uma said. "He is the bravest man that I have ever known."

"Who is this Martin?" a woman asked.

"His name is Martin Sinclair. He is the Commander of the ship. Our Admiral, Angelina, is his superior officer."

"You have women as officers?"

"Yes. Most of the crew is female."

"Is this the future?" a woman asked. "Where I came from women were not considered to have leadership quality."

"Things have changed on Earth," Uma said. "Since we have been able to go to the stars, all humans are considered equal."

"I hope that I can live to see this paradise," a woman said.

"I will offer prayers to Vishnu that your wish will come true," Uma said.

"You are Hindu?" an Indian man said.

"Yes," Uma said. "We have people of all faiths on our ship."

"If that is true," a man said. "Then mankind has created a paradise on Earth."

"I wonder where they took the two Draks?" Uma said.

"What is a Drak?" a man asked.

"They are a pseudo human species that have cat-like faces. We have several of them on our ship."

"We have never seen one. There are only humans here."

That seemed odd to Uma, but it must be true. Perhaps, this was a farm only for the harvest of human captives.

"What do you people do to wile away your time?" Uma asked them.

"Some have sex," a woman said. "Others try to kill themselves. The rest of us simply wait."

"Are there children here?"

"No. If a woman gets pregnant, they take her away. Maybe they like to eat babies."

"I doubt that," Uma said. "An unborn infant is not very large. What do they do to people who try to escape?"

"Nobody has escaped here. They are captured and taken away."

"This is not a very good situation," Uma said. "These evil aliens kill us for food, and there is little we can do about it."

"Perhaps the people on your ship will save us," a man said.

"It is the only hope that we have," Uma said.

No one could disagree with that.

###

Voto and Veta waited patiently for their jailers to lower their guard. Even though they had their arms secured behind their backs with plastic straps, they were diligently working to escape.

Voto had managed to work her wrist loose enough to weaken her restraints. With a sliver of space to work with, she was able to pull a hand out. The rest was easy. She quickly removed Veta's restraints.

The Dragon guard made the fatal mistake of not pointing his weapon directly at his captive. Voto broke his neck in one smooth motion, grabbed his weapon and blasted the second guard.

'With two weapons, the two Drak females took out five more Dragons before they were blasted into smoldering blackened hulks.

Mission accomplished.