Queen of Hearts Read online

  I was about to prove them wrong.

  “He’s on!” Zea hissed a second before my screen showed Arex look toward me.

  “Are you the lead--”

  “Shut up, fuckface,” I cut him off. “You are here because you are looking for your brother, Warren. I’ll save you the trouble. He came for me at Queen’s Hat, and I killed him. He cried like a baby before he died, and I’m about to kill you. Say a prayer to whatever forsaken god you believe in.”

  “What?” the mercenary leader’s eyes were wide open, and he leaned forward in his chair with an expression of confused outrage.

  “My name is Adam,” I said. “I am King of the Vaish Overlord clan. This is just a sliver of my armada, but I will still destroy you. I will not accept your surrender.”

  “Surrender? What are you--”

  “Kill it,” I said to Zea, and she hit a button on her controls. Her face was also as white as a sheet, and her blue eyes were opened as wide as I had ever seen them.

  “Open fire!” I shouted, and Persephone’s cannons came to life.

  Dark reddish-purple balls of plasma and beams launched from the manta ray shaped ship’s wings and nose. The energy sped through the empty space like fireworks and the blasts connected with four of the ships that we strafed under.

  I had aimed Nikki beneath a pack of the smaller destroyer class vessels, since I figured they would be more mobile and able to combat Persephone’s quicker speed. I knew there weren’t a lot of ships that could withstand my ship’s powerful cannons, but there had been a few with shielding devices.

  Fortunately, the Black Heart vessels did not have shields, and their hulls began to melt an instant after the plasma licked them.

  Then all hell broke loose.

  Madalena shouted that the rest of the security fleet was engaging their hyperdrives to close the gap. Paula and Kasta both shouted that they had deployed six of our drones and were strafing one Destroyer that hadn’t fully collapsed. Zea shouted that Arex was trying to open communications with us again. Nikki said that they had opened fire and she was taking evasive action.

  I drank in the excitement from my women and felt my heart’s beat calm to an even pace. Kuroda was correct about me. I was the Tiger. My exhaustion was gone from my changed body, my mind was at ease, and I had a clear focus. My purpose was to kill everything that challenged me and protect those who needed me.

  “Nikki, bear 87.80, -42.00,” I said as I glanced at the measurement rulers on Persephone’s screen.

  “Bearing 87.80, -42.00,” she repeated as she flung Persephone into a slow barrel roll that evaded a blast of molten metal from a melting destroyer.

  “Zea, which ship is Arex’s?” I asked.

  “It’s the carrier at the rear,” she replied as she pounded on her controls.

  “We are going to hyperdrive behind him and land a volley at his engines. Plot a course.”

  “Uhhh, I’ll work on it,” the blonde hacker said as she bent over her terminal

  “Paula and Kasta, you are going to twist the drones to our starboard side so that they think we are going that direction, then we’ll leave them behind when we hyperdrive. What will the delay be on your drones?”

  “Distance is pretty long,” Paula said. “Second and a half.”

  “Target your flight so you meet back with the security fleet. I don’t want to lose our drones, but I want to cripple Arex’s ship. Zea?”

  “I’m almost there,” the hacker said. There was a quiver in her voice, and I knew she was trying to work as fast as she could to plot the course.

  “You’ve got four more seconds,” I said as Nikki tucked Persephone under a carrier. Lux’s gunner team fired a combined salvo above us, and the massive ship erupted like a pimple filled with lava.

  “I think I’ve got it!” Zea shouted.

  “Lux! I want you to take out their engines after we hyperdrive!” I shouted over my shoulder.

  “Yes, Adam,” she replied.

  “Paula and Kasta, split!”

  “Yes, Captain!” they shouted, and I saw their six fighter drones pull off to our right.

  “Nikki, engage hyperdrives.”

  “Engaging--” she started to say, and then our screen blurred for half a moment. “-drives.”

  “Lux, fire on their engines,” I said as Nikki pivoted Persephone around like a dancer.

  I got a clear view of the back section of the carrier, and then a lone ball of dark red plasma tumbled toward their back thrusters. The shot was right on target, and I held my breath as it tumbled toward the massive ship’s array of eight pulsing ion thrusters.

  Just before the ball hit, a shot from our light plasma cannon hit it. The sphere exploded to ten times the size, and the entire back fifth of the carrier began to melt.

  “Great shot, Lux!” I shouted.

  “Thank you, Adam,” she replied, but her tone was lacking emotion as usual.

  “We’ll leave them crippled,” I said. “Nikki, spin us back to the rest of his fleet. We are going to target the cruisers at heading 18.09 and 455.8.”

  “Yes, Adam,” the pilot said as she twisted Persephone down and around the injured carrier. The back part was almost entirely melted now, and while I wouldn’t mind the whole thing crumbling from Lux’s shot, I wanted Arex to live through me destroying his fleet.

  Before he died, I wanted him to know of the error he made by challenging me.

  “Madalena, update,” I said. She had been speaking into her transponder to order the positioning of the other twenty ships, and I could see them engaging the rest of the fleet.

  “Squadron One is on the positive bearing, they have eliminated four enemy ships and have taken no losses,” she said. “Squadron Two is at the negative bearing and has eliminated five ships but lost one of their destroyers.”

  “We caught them off guard,” I said. “Press the attack on that side, but have Squadron One pull back a bit so the enemy will pursue. Paula and Kasta, swing your drones around to meet with us. We are going to hit them from the back flank.

  “Yes, Captain,” the twins repeated with identical voices, and I saw their dancing drones flip back over so that they could intersect with our heading.

  “Nikki, head 287.88 and 345.11,” I said as I saw a gap in the formations of the Black Heart ships. I’d been right in my predictions, and their captains seemed unconcerned with our ship. Or at least, they were focusing the fire on my retreating squadron. My Wobbegong ships did have shields, and most of the plasma shots from the Black Heart vessels bounced off harmlessly.

  “Gunners, fire!” I shouted as soon as we were within range of the split battle.

  A salvo from Persephone’s cannons sprang forward and sprayed across the void of space. I hadn’t set aside a specific target, so the purple-red beams and balls of power crashed into the backside of the four vessels. They began to limp almost immediately, but then their hulls turned a bright red before swelling like a rotten banana.

  The Black Heart ships were rather large. I hadn’t paid attention to the scanner readout, but cruiser classes were about two to three times the size of Persephone, and my ship was mostly wings. These were bulbos, fish-like vessels that I guessed had a crew of a few hundred people.

  And we had taken out half of their ships now.

  A cluster of enemy drones dodged between shots from our plasma cannons and spun toward our nose, but before they could get an aimed shot off at us, Persephone’s front laser array lanced each of them with surgical precision.

  “Good job, Sivaha!” I said as I saw Paula and Zea’s shoulders relax. Nikki always seemed to be calm, and I felt thankful that I had inherited such an expert pilot.

  “Yes, Husband,” Sivaha said, and I tore my eyes away from the display screen so that I could nod at her. Somewhat to my surprise, she was focused on her small cluster of controls, so I turned back to my work.

  “Nikki, bank right to bring our port side up behind that cruiser. Paula and Kasta, where are our drones? I n
eed them back at our flank. Lux, hold off on firing for a second, I want to hit that cruiser with a salvo when we pass. Zea, how soon until we can use the hyperdrive again?”

  “Yes, Adam,” Nikki said.

  “We are bringing them back, Captain,” Paula replied.

  “On your command!” Lux shouted as the cannons stopped firing.

  “We are good to go, but I need to map a destination.” Zea answered.

  “Plot to the far side of the group attacking Squadron Two. Put us on the bottom angle of approach at about heading -345,” I ordered.

  “Got it,” the hacker said as her fingers danced across her controls.

  “Madalena, update,” I said as I looked to my left at the Prime Valkyrie. She was still talking to the two squadrons, but I was fine to let her handle them while I managed Persephone’s movements.

  “Six remaining,” Madalena said. “We’ve only lost one from Squadron Two, but one of our destroyers in Squadron One has taken massive hull damage, and they are evacuating.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I glanced at the viewscreen. Squadron Two had finished off their opponents with our help, and the six remaining Black Heart ships were pushing on Squadron Two.

  The battle was nearly over, but there was still an opportunity for us to lose another ship or two if we got sloppy. I would need to end this quickly.

  “Zea, are you ready?” I asked.

  “Uhhhh almost-- got it!”

  “Nikki, hit it,” I said, and our screen flickered for an instant. Then we were on the underside of our allied ships and pushing up toward the bellies of the six Black Heart ships. It had been a short jump, but Persephone’s hyperdrive engines were quick to reset, so I knew that the Black Hearts hadn’t expected us to close the gap so quickly.

  “Paula and Kasta, hit them from the rear while we take them from below.”

  “Yes, Captain!” the twins shouted in unison. “We are engaging.”

  “Lux, open fire on the carrier,” I ordered, and Lux barked a command a moment before a wave of angry plasma poured from Persephone’s wings.

  This carrier was actually shielded, but one of the gunners hit the plasma ball with the lighter cannon beam, and the shield shattered like a glass window. The rest of the shots then hit the hull, and the massive vessel erupted like a volcano that had broken in half.

  “They are finally deploying drones,” Kasta remarked casually. “There are forty-eight, but more than half are coming from the smaller of the cruisers. If you target that one next, we’ll have some relief. Otherwise, we aren’t going to last long against their numbers.”

  “Nikki, turn to 344.97 and 78.8,” I said as the vacuum began to fill with laser and plasma beams.

  “Yes, Adam,” the pilot replied as Persephone twisted hard to our right. I actually felt this one in my chest a bit, but no one on the bridge let out a gasp of surprise.

  My crew was getting tough.

  The laser array at the front fired along with our nose cannon. Both guns ripped into a pack of drones that had tried to move into our path, and Nikki spun around the debris field they left.

  “Good job, Eve and Sivaha,” I said. “Alright Lux and gunners, our target is the smaller carrier. Fire at will.”

  More magenta lobs of energy cascaded from Persephone and raced toward our target. Nikki was actually on a collision course, but she banked downward a few moments after the shots left our guns and then twisted us around so that we were coming at one of the other cruisers.

  The cruiser that had launched most of the drones crumbled up on itself like a smashed soda can, and the drones chasing us went limp. There were still plenty of the small fighter crafts chasing us, but the rest of Squadron Two had taken out all but one of the cruisers, and Persephone was already pointing at it.

  “All guns on that last cruiser,” I said, and the shots left almost before I finished speaking.

  The enemy ship took eight balls on the top ridge and then seemed to vaporize. There wasn’t even the usual bending of metal from the hull, or eruptions as the atmosphere left through hot melting metal. The craft just seemed to cease existing the moment the plasma balls hit it, and all that was left in its place were chunks of metal that burned like coal bricks.

  “There are a few drones left over from the main carrier,” Kasta said. “They are too far away from their controls though, we’ll have them cleaned up in… Okay. We got them all.” The android looked up from her controls and smiled at me.

  “Good job, Kasta and Paula,” I said. “Zea, give me visual on Arex’s carrier.”

  “Here you go,” the hacker said with a relieved sigh.

  The carrier was half smashed in the back, like a subway sandwich that had been rolled over with a car tire. The flattened part was smoldering, but the gunners on the front part of the ship were still firing at us. The vessel was too far away for them to hit us while we moved, but I applauded them for trying.

  “Nikki, bring us within heavy plasma range.”

  “Yes, Adam,” the pilot said as she turned Persephone to sink below the lines of fire.

  “Zea, open up communications with him again,” I ordered.

  “Got it, annnnnnnd he’s up,” she said, and I saw the Black Heart leader again.

  It was quite a change in demeanor. His proud, arrogant face was now creased with worry, and his eyebrows were raised with concern.

  “I would like to surrender,” he said quickly. “You’ve critically damaged our ship. Please allow us safe evacuation onto your station.”

  “You came here threatening us,” I said as I drew my breath in through my teeth with a hiss.

  “Please,” he said. “You are strong. I’ve never seen a ship like yours, and it made short work of my fleet. My entire army is gone now. I just have the survivors on this ship. We are willing to work as indentured servants if you’ll let us live.”

  “Eve,” I said as I turned to the vampire woman sitting on my right. “How many governments did Warren overthrow while he commanded his portion of Black Heart?”

  “Eighteen or twenty,” she said with a shrug. “He lost count, but it was a smaller number than what his brother did.”

  “Ahh, I see,” I said.

  “No,” Arex said, “We only destroyed governments that needed it. We only kidnapped those who--”

  “That was not what his brother’s memories said,” Eve interrupted him. “These men and women honor only rhodium. They have hurt plenty of innocents during their mercenary activities.”

  “I’ll accept whatever criminal punishment, then!” he screeched.

  “How many people begged for their lives just like you beg me?” I asked. “I will give you your punishment. Crew, open fire on the last carrier. We will end the reign of the Black Hearts right now. Zea, cut the communication.”

  “No!” Arex shouted, but then his screen went black, and our view was replaced by trails of plasma. He was probably thirty kilometers away, but all of our shots connected with the front of his carrier, and the front collapsed just like the back section.

  “Fucking shit that was badass,” Zea gasped as she sat back in her chair. Her hands were on her slender chest, and she glanced around at the rest of the women on the bridge. “Did we just smash their dicks in, or what?”

  “Yep,” Paula said as she turned to smile at me. “Good job, Captain.”

  “It was a team effort,” I said. “Thank you for flying the drones.” I nodded at the angelic engineer and then turned to Kasta.

  “Madalena, thank you for commanding the two groups of empire ships. You did an excellent job.”

  “You are welcome, Husband,” I could feel her pleasure at my compliment.

  “Sivaha, good shooting with the lasers,” I said to the silver-haired queen.

  “Of course,” she said as she leaned forward to look at me. “Now that the battle is over, might I have some of your time--”

  “Not now,” I answered before I turned to Zea. “Good job with the plotting.”

&nb
sp; “Thanks,” the blonde woman said. “I didn’t know if I could navigate that quickly. Glad I didn’t fuck up and put us three systems over.”

  “Nikki, good job piloting.”

  “Thank you, Adam,” she said as she nodded to me.

  I stood up, turned around, and then nodded at the crew on the guns. “Thank you all. Great job. We are heading to my home moon next. It is in orbit around Jupiter. Kasta, how long will it take us to get there?”

  “Warp drive isn’t reset yet,” Kasta said. “So, it will take us nine hours and fifty-seven minutes. I will plot the course.”

  “Great,” I said as I unbuckled my harness. “I’m going to get some rest. My sister and Yu are to stay in their rooms. Eve and Zea, come with me. Madalena, you have the bridge.”

  Zea looked a little surprised that I had asked her to come with me, but Eve slid out of her chair and joined me. I gave a final nod to Madalena, and she smiled at me as I walked past her.

  “Husband, I--” Sivaha started to say when I reached her, but I raised my finger and glared at her.

  “Later,” I hissed. “I’m too tired for your shit right now.”

  “Yes,” she sighed, and I could sense her overwhelming disappointment like an ocean’s current pulling at my feet.

  I shook the feeling of her emotions away and then continued my walk past the holographic map and gunners. The crew all smiled at me, but I just nodded at them.

  “Excellent, Tiger,” Kuroda said as he stood from his station.

  “I will rest now,” I said, “but we will talk later.”

  “Looking forward to it,” he replied, and then I walked past him and into the hallway leading toward my private quarters.

  “Didn’t you just shift back?” Zea asked when I opened the door to my room. “I’m surprised you can walk right now.”

  “Yeah, I dunno,” I said. “I feel good. I’m still tired, but I’m not hurting.”

  “Oh,” she said as her cheeks blushed a bit. “Soooo, uhh. Does that mean you ahh wanted to--”

  “Yes,” I said after I closed the door to my suite and pulled both of them into me. “We have ten hours before I’m home, so I can spend the first two making love to both of you and the next eight sleeping.”