Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 45

Once I had listened to her reasons this would not work I sent her my calculations by text message for her flight engineer to review. The response that her flight engineer was unavailable told me that he was either incapacitated or killed in the Zeta's attack. I assured her that this would work and that she had nothing to lose by trying. She was still hesitant about agreeing to try my plan until her scanners and mine announced at roughly the same time that I jump point was opening behind us. I could hear her tactical station calling out that hostiles were inbound from the jump point.

I confirmed this and told her that we had a Zeta carrier inbound and it was launching Zaloof fighters. It did not take the Colonel long to agree to my plan once I told her that my ship could never fight off what the Zeta's were sending our way. She followed my plan to the letter and quickly dropped her landing struts. I maneuvered the Tenshi under the belly of the Siegfried and lined the two center struts up with my wings then slowly pushed upwards until the wings and the struts made contact.

Once contact was made my onboard systems confirmed that the two ships were magnetically locked together. I have to say that the connection was not "magnetic" as the old Earth term would imply. This was not a piece of metal sticking to a magnet. It was more like a close point tractor beam but the term "magnetic" was still used by the Earthlings.

I ran the calculations once again then sent the figures for the amount of thrust that I would need from the Siegfried for this idea to work. When Colonel Connors responded they were ready I activated the Doyon drive and informed the Siegfried that we go on one and then I began to count down from ten.

The Zaloof fighters were inbound and almost in weapons range. The wave under my ship was building and as the countdown hit one we launched together. As we began to move both ships were fighting against the wave but eventually as I increased the power output of the Doyon engine, the star field in front of us began to stretch just as it did when I left Angkor and after a blinding flash of light we were on our way to Anora Prime. Once we were up to speed and out of range of the Zeta's carrier and fighters, I could not resist contacting Colonel Connors and asking her how she was enjoying being the first PGC ship to travel faster than light in normal space... unfortunately she never answered me on that because her communications system was not capable of communicating at this high rate of speed though I am sure that my transmission was received.

The trip to Anora Prime was uneventful and the time passed quickly. My sensors detected many attempts from the SS Siegfried to scan the interior of my ship. The power level of their scanning devices told confirmed my suspicion that the Siegfried was no normal military or civilian transport but instead was a vessel equipped for espionage. It did not matter to me that I was hauling a PGC spy ship back to Anora. Whatever their mission was it was against the Zetas so I was more than willing to help the PGC against our common enemy, though I made a note to myself to keep an eye on the Siegfried's crew once they landed on Anora. I did not need them snooping around under the temple especially when I did not know what all was down there.

Our course into Anora Prime's solar system would take us dangerously close to three of the five gas giants in the system, and with my Tenshi connected to the Siegfried I could only fly in a straight line while the FTL drive was engaged. The hulking Siegfried prohibited my craft from steering. As we neared the ort cloud that formed the boundary between the system and the rest of the galaxy I disengaged the FLT drive and allowed my ship and the Siegfried to coast through space. Once we reached sub light speed I once again contacted the Siegfried and advised them that I could not pilot them through the asteroids that made up the ort cloud and that we would have to make our way to Anora Prime on our own individual power. When my transmission was received the Siegfried released the docking clamps connecting our two ships.

The Siegfried acknowledged and engaged her sub light drive. I took the lead and urged the Siegfried to follow me. The Siegfried was seriously damaged in the Zeta attack but she did well to navigate her way through the asteroids. Only once did I have to use my reconfigured plasma cannons to clear a path wide enough for the Siegfried. We made good time from the outer edge of the system to Anora and along the way I briefed the Colonel on the battle that had taken place in space above the planet and the plague attack against the survivors of the Shinawatra. Colonel Connors expressed her concerns about landing on a planet that was infected by the Zeta plague. I assured her that we had a vaccine of sorts for the plague and that the remainder of the Shinawatra's crew and the native population were currently quite healthy.

As we took our sub light ride through Anora Prime's solar system I contacted Sheba and relayed a small list of things that would need to be changed on this ship, and asked that those changes also be added to the new design that I had requested earlier. Sheba replied that there were insufficient raw materials remaining on Angkor to construct a new ship as specified. She did inform me that she was able to make contact with an automated shipyard on Dushambi Station and that the reconstruction of an existing Koloth class fighter/bomber was under way. I thought to myself that it was good that Sheba still had some connections with other abandoned Annunaki facilities.

Along the way to Anora, the Colonel proposed that we repair her ship in orbit so as not to expose the crew to the plague. I did not think that was a good idea should the Zeta return, and I expressed my objection to her. After consulting with what was left of her crew she concluded that her crew lacked the experience, training, and numbers to be able to repair the Siegfried enough to get her home and would need help from what remained of the Shinawatra's crew.

Once Colonel Connors confirmed her decision to land the Siegfried I gave her instructions to land her ship close to the slaver's ship since it would be easier to cannibalize parts and pieces off that ship if they were parked close together. My instructions included having her crew make their way to the temple as soon as possible to be vaccinated against the plague. The Siegfried had been holed in many places and it was only the emergency force fields that kept the atmosphere in and the vacuum of space out. Once on the ground the gaps in the hull would easily allow the plague to enter.

After the decision was made that the Siegfried would land, I contacted Neko by her internal wireless system and informed her what was about to happen and that I would need her and the village monks to meet at the temple and explained that they would be receiving wounded Earthlings shortly. I did not have a lot of time for story telling but I told her as much as I could while making preparations for landing. I did stress though that the monks would need to use the altar's medical system to vaccinate the entire crew of the Siegfried against the remains of the Zeta's plague. Neko understand and responded that she would wait for me at the temple.

While the Siegfried configured its self to land I made my approach to the landing area and signaled the Siegfried to begin its decent. I circled back over the landing zone to make sure that none of the inhabitants of the village or the military camp were in the area. The scanners showed the area to be clear of human or animal life. It was then that a wicked idea popped into my head, and with a smile on my face I set off in the direction of the military camp. I came in low and slow, and then gunned the engine causing the Tenshi to vibrate slightly as it passed through the sound barrier. The large boom in the wake of the Tenshi got the attention of the military. I cut my speed then made a slow pass over the tent city, taking note of the startled men and women as they exited their tents.

The Siegfried was now visible to the villagers and the military as it made its approach to the designated landing zone. As expected the inhabitants of Anora Prime began to make their way toward the area where the ship would land. I knew it would take them more time to get to the landing zone that it would take for the Siegfried to land so there was no fear of injury. I engaged the anti gravity system and brought the Tenshi down to hover over the path that the villagers would take to get to the landing zone, then as the Siegfried touched down I landed the Tenshi in a manner that would partially block the route from the village and camp. I knew that the skin of the Siegfried would be hot from its trip through the atmosphere and I did not want anyone to get hurt by the heat or by any possible static discharge that would come from the Siegfried's hull.

Once I was on the ground I secured the engines and powered down the Tenshi after sending a brief message to Sheba that I had arrived safe and sound. I climbed out of the cockpit and made a quick visual inspection of the Tenshi. As I finished my inspection the villagers began to arrive. The Alphas and some of the younger men and women had made the trip to my location on a dead run and even managed to out run the fine men and women of the Earth's military from the tent city next door.

The first to see me stopped dead in their tracks and looked at me as if they had seen a ghost, well at least the villagers had. I military men and women had a sort of quizzical look about them that told me that my showing up here was some sort of mystery. By my reckoning I was only gone for about a week, but as I gathered with the villagers and told them where I had been and what I had been doing, I learned that by my time I was gone a week, but by their time I was gone almost five weeks.

I was concerned about the time variation and as I paused to consider what had happened, Colonel Connors and her command officers had made it to my location. I was expecting to see her in the standard bridge officer's uniform, but instead she was wearing the uniform of the Earth Force Marine Corp. I introduced myself to her and she introduced herself and her officers to me. Her officers were a mixture of Marines, Army, and Navy. She explained that the majority of the bridge officers were killed in the first few minutes of the Zeta's attack and that she had to cobble together a command staff from the officers available. I was just ready to commend her and her officers on their efforts against the Zeta when Colonel Danvers and Major Jarro made their way into the conversation.

As normally happens in military circles, the officers begin to converse and those of us not in uniform get pushed out of the conversation. This is what happened as the two Colonels and their officers traded war stories. I had to laugh as Colonel Danvers had little to say when it came to tales of actual combat experience. I was tempted to chime in and remind Danvers of the battle he won against a very large mosquito down by the river but thought it best not to honk him off right away. I was sure that Colonel Connors would realize soon enough that she was dealing with a desk jockey.

While I was listening from the outside of the military circle, Raku approached me and pointed to the line of men and women exiting the Siegfried. He addressed me as "Princess", then inquired about the people from the ship heading our way. The mention of the word "Princess" caught the attention of Colonel Connors and as she looked at me Major Jarro spoke up and confirmed that I was indeed one of the last two living members of the Annunaki Royal family. I found out later that while I was gone so long a memorial service was held when I did not return. During that service Neko spilled the beans about the Royal Annunaki DNA that she and I shared. Of course she did not go into detail about that DNA being raided from the tomb of some long dead Annunaki Royal. Upon hearing the royal honorific used toward me by Jarro, the Colonel became a little more gracious toward me and apologized for ignoring me as she conversed with the other Earth officers.

I smiled and told her that the honorifics were not necessary here on Anora Prime. I asked her to address me as Maew, and my sister as Neko since we did not stand on ceremony and titles here. As we were talking Attu approached and I immediately introduced him to the Colonel as the second Alpha of our village. I was surprised when her UT understood his greeting to her and she was able to speak directly to him. Once the introduction was complete I explained to Attu that the Siegfried had been in battle and had many wounded aboard. I asked that he gather up the villagers and escort our new friends to the temple. Colonel Connors added that she would prefer that only her people enter the Siegfried due to the sensitive nature of the equipment inside. Attu and I agreed and he took his leave to round up the strongest of men and women in the event that the wounded needed to be carried.

While we were on the subject of sensitive areas, I made a similar request that her people remain above ground while in the temple area as the area below was considered sacred ground. She agreed to respect our restrictions as we agreed to respect hers. Colonel Danvers offered his crew's assistance as well and seemed a bit upset when Colonel Connors gave similar instructions to him that his people were not to enter the Siegfried until her security officers had a chance to vet them properly.

Before we left the landing zone I asked Attu to leave four of his men behind to keep an eye on the Tenshi. He gave instructions to four of his most studly men to stay behind and let no one touch my ship. I knew that the Earthlings had weapons that could easily disable Attu's guards but I knew that they would not want to risk and incident as they had no way to know how we could or would retaliate. I asked for the guards just to keep the honest, Honest. I was well aware that the Siegfried was a spy ship and my Tenshi was new technology that would make a tempting prize.

The path from the landing zone led us through the main street of the village and as we entered the village Raku approached the others and me and offered food for our new guests. Neko had informed him as she left for the temple that guests would be coming, Raku had the village women put together what food was available, which was mostly what was left over from breakfast. I introduced Raku as the Alpha of the village and the officers of the Siegfried returned his greeting as they would if they were meeting the mayor of an Earth city. It had been a while since the crew of the Siegfried had a proper meal that was not reconstituted or replicated and they were grateful for the fresh fruit, breads, and fish that was laid out for them.

While the crew of the Siegfried picked over the food I advised Colonel Connors that it was important that we pick up the pace a little as it was necessary to vaccinate her crew as soon as possible. She encouraged her people to take whatever food they could with them and eat along the way. Unfortunately there were many wounded among her crew that could not eat and had to be carried on litters to the temple.

When we got to the temple I was so proud of my villagers. Just as they did when the Shinawatra's crew arrived they were prepared for the wounded to arrive, and performed admirably. The wounded were triaged and treated accordingly. The level of care the monks, and the villagers gave her to her people impressed Colonel Connors. Those with life threatening injuries were treated first with the healing beam until they were out of danger. They would be given additional treatment later after everyone was stabilized and inoculated against the plague. Just like when the crew of the Shinawatra arrived, Neko, the monks and myself took turns running the humans through the healing beam and by the time the evening came we were able to use the temple for our prayer ritual.

In total, there were forty-seven members of the crew that required emergency treatment; another twenty-two had minor injuries. In all one hundred seventeen crew members of the Siegfried were treated and or inoculated before nightfall. Those that were well enough to travel spent the night on board the Siegfried, those that had more serious injuries and required more treatment stayed in tents near the temple that the Shinawatra's crew had put up for them. After our evening prayers the villagers invited the combined crews of the Shinawatra and the Siegfried to dinner, and while the feast was going on I had time to move the Tenshi to a small clearing behind the temple. Once the ship was safely parked and secured I set up a low level force field that would be strong enough to deflect any hand held weapons fire, just in case anyone got the idea to try and take a peek inside.

I met up with Colonel Connors while her and her crew was enjoying the hospitality of our village. I could tell by the way they ate that her crew had been in space a long time, and had been away from a home cooked meal for a long time too. Many of her crew went back for seconds, and thirds and surprisingly there was enough to go around. If its one thing that the people of Angkor know how to do its put on a feast.

After dinner we walked and talked as I showed her around the village. As we wandered we ended up down by the river where the evening bathing ritual was taking place. I discussed our customs with her and invited her to join in if she wished. She blushed softly, and a normal person would not have noticed but with my feline vision I picked up on the subtle change in her skin tone. I doubt that she was embarrassed being a Marine and all, since community showering was one of the things that were common amongst most of the military branches, especially the Marines. I sensed her discomfort level and let the topic drop. I was looking forward to a good soak in the river but decided to wait for a better time. I did not want to seem rude and abandon my guest.

I continued to address her as Colonel as my academy training demanded, but after a while she asked me to call her Megyn while we were in an informal setting. I agreed, but with the caveat that she address me as Maew since she still insisted on calling me Princess. We both had a laugh as we came to a mutual understanding. As we made our way back to the village Megyn began to ask me about the Tenshi. I did not mind speaking in general about the ship but I backed off when she pressed for specific information. Some would have taken acceptation to her questions but I just imagined myself in her position as a career intelligence officer and answered her questions with a smile without giving away any great Annunaki secrets.

Do not take this the wrong way, I was all in on the war against the Zetas and I wanted to do my part to help in the war effort but before I began giving away high tech secrets, I want to make sure I was sharing them with the right people. I had a good feeling about Megyn, but I had no idea who her superiors were and what they would do with Annunaki technology if I gave it to them. Of course if I were to share any of our technology, I would have to get Neko's approval as well since we were sort of partners in this Annunaki royalty thing.

The hour was getting late and at Megyn's request we took a stroll to where her ship was parked. Along the way she mentioned that she would be sleeping in a cargo bay as most of the officer's quarters had been destroyed. She had been offered a cot in the military's tent city but since that cot was in Colonel Danver's tent, she turned him down seeing as how it turns out that she out ranks him by time in grade. Neko had a bed in my hut but she rarely used it. She became close with Major Jarro and some of the other officers in the tent city and when she was not sleeping in her assigned cot, she was sleeping out in the jungle in feline form. Like me she preferred this as well.