System of the Damned,

  Chapter 15- Roderick

  Bad memories and Nosy Ai.

  I was crouched down behind the cover of a few wrecked cars, static buzzing in my earbud and showing that coms were jammed. Davis, my squad’s pointman, had been taken out with a Ma Deuce, which had also taken down, Bravo team. That is why we’d lost contact with them and damn the tanker pricks that had setup in the cover of a turned over semi and only poked the Abrams nose out to shoot.

  “O’Connell, you still alive?” Captain Martinez asked over the com, and of course he could reach me, he had White with him, and her radio could power through the jamming.

  I didn’t have the backpack unit that Corporal White had, so I pulled a flare from my thigh pocket and struck it. I raised up just enough to hurl it out toward Davis’s body and bolted for another hiding place from….the tank rapidly that turned my previous hiding place into shrapnel. They’d tried to use the main gun on a tank to shoot me!

  “Good, keep moving and prepare to break down the alley you’re aimed at.” My ears were ringing rather loudly and I could feel the thudding in the ground from the tank moving. I peaked under a Toyota and saw that the tank was moving more into the open, it’s pintel mounted machine gun blazing away and another deafening roar of it’s cannon firing. When I saw it’s tread start to grind over Bravo team’s bodies I snarled, Army pricks!

  I brought up my Milkor MGL and leaned it against the Toyota’s fender, pumping all six high explosive shells out as quickly as I could. The turret started to turn toward me as the shells arc’d through the air, and then I remembered that two of Bravo had been carrying demolitions. Four shells slammed across the tank, but two hit under it...and the roughly eight pounds of high explosive that Bravo had left.

  Fire and steam exploded out from the street as the explosives cut down into gas and steam lines, the shockwave grabbed me like the hand of god and hurled me back into a car. Pain wracking my body, but mostly in my eyes and ears. I couldn’t hear anything and there was so much blood in my eyes.

  **********

  I was soaked in sweat and felt pain pulsing through my veins as the adrenaline surge and panic of the dream tried to kick start a change. My jaws clenched tight as I fought it, fingernails digging into my palms as I tried to take in calming breaths. Then Thunder was suddenly holding my face and holding open my eyes with pad tipped fingers, forcing me to look at her. “You! Are! Safe!” When a woman had a husband with nightmares and a risk of turning into a ten foot tall slobbering monster, it was amazing how well she could learn a new language. Not to mention her ability to chant a trio of words like a prayer as she sat on my stomach like a church pew.

  It felt like hours while I fought the change and the burning pain that tried to flow through my human body and twist it into a monster. I knew it was only a trick of adrenaline and there was a fancy term for it that I might have known once, but couldn’t remember now. It was only a minute, maybe two before I slumped against the bed, still human, pain slowly fading from my body. Her head nuzzled at my neck and under my chin, causing me to smile as I gently rubbed her back, working my thick claw like nails gently into her short fur.

  “Thank you.” I said softly and lifted her chin with a little work from mine so I could kiss her. Lo’kar didn’t kiss like humans and Ca’zeze. Well that would just be terrifying to watch them try to make out like humans did, I mean honestly, picture two kinda humanoid wolves making out. It wouldn’t be cute in any way, it would be absolutely horrifying like they were fighting to the death.

  She purred as we broke the kiss and trailed her clawed fingers lightly over my chest as she sat up. “You’re having them less now, which nightmare was it?” She asked as she did every damned time I woke her up like this. She rolled her R’s like she was speaking spanish, but I knew it was only because her speaking English meant she had to nearly purr to make some of the sounds. My wife was also a very smart woman and knew my dense ass would never properly learn Ca’zeze and the Lo’kar language was impossible. There was no way for me to hit the pitches that they did, let alone make them out listening to them.

  I huffed and kept gently scratching and petting her, because I knew thanks to having lots of body hair…it tended to itch. Well it itched unless you bathed five times a day. My thoughts went to the nightmare and I know my face must have screwed up in thought, because her head cocked to the side curiously. “It was a memory. One I didn’t think I would have.” I was getting more confused the more I thought about it.

  This sort of thing had happened before and I knew it was thanks to the gene mods I’d gotten, being a guinea pig in some of the first runs of such things had that effect. I honestly still couldn’t remember my childhood, but that memory didn’t line up with my records. Her fingers caressed my face and I looked up into her dark eyes. “Roderick….” It always sounded so cute when she said my name, partially because she mangled it, and partly because she always made a face when she tried to switch from R to ick. “Why would you not have a memory that you have? Your people did not have this technology to make false memories...only hide them?”

  I shook my head, my hands moving around the sides of her slowly growing pot belly as I thought for a moment. “No we didn’t, aside from what they used to block memories.” I felt a little shift under my hand and blinked as she let out a squeak and groaned. “Always has to be comfy...silly kid.” I looked up at her and smiled. “Want to go with me? I need to go talk to Captain Rowland about this.”

  She purred as she looked down at me and smiled a toothy grin. “After you pay me back for waking me up my husband….” Her hips slid back for mine and I decided talking to Andy could wait a while.

  *************

  A few hours later I walked down the steps that curled down along the side of the Skull from the left eye sockets to the ground. Everything was blindingly white thanks to the three feet of snow on the ground, because winter on this damned planet was long and dark. Tall poles had been stood up a few weeks ago and lights mounted to them only a few days before the first snowfall hit. Needless to say, the bugs kept themselves to warmer places, and talking Lady Jira into going outside was as useful as slamming your forehead into a wall repeatedly.

  The horde didn’t care about the snow, though I could see a flare of flames from over near Honey’s shop and figured Stanley was assaulting the snow with a flamethrower...again. I didn’t mind too much other than the bright lights and snow glare, until I’d lost my fur coat and became human again. From bare feet and shorts to thick boots and a puffy coat, which currently had my wife riding on the back of it. She’d learned that she could hook her toes into the waist of my fatigue pants and belt, and then she could ride me and see things from higher up. Damned short woman, ok yes I’m in love with her, but still, I’m not a damned horse.

  Luckily for our issue with the damned crabs, they didn’t seem like the cold and had been leaving our forward base alone. Sadly with the weather and overall hatred of cold with half of my troops...I’d not gotten the line pushed any further into crab territory. I didn’t try to force it since it reminded me of how things looked in Russian winters…and never invade Russia in the winter.

  Granted that had meant China had simply nuked parts of Russia off the damned map during winter. I shook my head to chase the memories away, and smiled as strong slender arms curled around my neck. The love was coming out more as we spent more calm time with each other, I could hear the voices less now and was more stable, while she used her hammers less and less for diplomacy. Granted she’d used the hammers on me for diplomacy lessons, her excuse was that I healed rapidly. She’s also ticklish, not saying where though.

  My truck sat in a somewhat cleared area near other vehicles the Rodu had provided, and a few human made ones. I have to admit that the Rodu vehicles tended to have less chance of sitting on the ground with no wheels, something I was still trying to figure out about the mimics was their love of synthetic rubber. I of course had mounted the doors and hard covers over the cab, even I wasn’t that hardcore. “You can drive if you want.” I offered and grunted as Thunder sprung from my back and into the truck. Omar (Honey) had made her pedal extensions and basically a booster seat she could slap into the driver’s seat of the Warg.

  As she strapped in her booster seat, which I was never going to tell her the idea was mainly for children, she spoke. “Humans have such interesting cuts of clothing, though your second in command...Ef...Evans!” Sometimes V’s were annoying for her, that whole purring thing. “She spoke of something called a brat? Supportive clothing?”

  “Bra.” I corrected and was so glad that she couldn’t see my face, because it was twisted with the laughter I was forcing not to come out. Instead I poked at the truck’s tires, always making sure I hadn’t picked up a mimic. “And human women wear them to support their breasts, which usually swell more when they produce milk.” I said and stood up from checking the tires, not even noticing the snowball that flew past my head.

  She let out a bit of her cute squeaky laughter and smiled at me as I came over and stood beside her door. “We have not met another race with that...oddity. Attracting males by storing up condensed fat around their mam.” A snowball splashed over her little muzzle and the top of her head.

  I turned as I heard her start to growl and caught five tiny snowballs across the side of my head and some of it went down my back. The yelp that shot out of me was ended by the snowball that exploded against my mouth, making me cough, and my coughing always ends in...flames.

  Thunder squeaked and jerked her door shut as flames shot out of my mouth and nose, which was why my clothes were all fireproof. The barrage ended and I managed to pat out the flames coating my torso and arms, though I looked around curious and confused. Then a gatling gun’s rate of tiny snowballs started to pepper me from head to foot and I heard it...bunny giggles. I’d taught them with the rest of the squads that had joined the combined forces, and I’d be proud that I hadn’t heard them...if they’d stop pelting me.

  A dark long eared head with a big spot around it’s left eye peeked up out of a snow bank and grinned at me. “Mission complete! Next fire mission!” Boomed out in chitter before Left Spot vanished back into the snow and I looked around confused, then shook myself like a dog to get the snow off. And now I knew why Stanley was violently clearing snow, even he wasn’t safe from their pranks and games.

  I huffed and tapped a knuckle on Thunder’s door, then noticed her shaking her head and pointing at the side door. That was right, I’d said she could drive, and I wasn’t about to try and talk her out of it. As I walked around my truck, I noticed a few areas of the snow that had little humps in them. The little shits were tunneled through the snow and were ambushing people...I was so damned proud of them that I saluted no one in particular.

  She was making cute little noises of annoyance and had turned the heater up to nuclear levels with every vent she could get...facing her. “Cold…” Was all she said and I just had to sit and wait for her to get warm, which meant I ended up out of my coat, sleeves rolled up, and contemplating walking the trip before she poked the button to turn on the rest of the controls. “I liked snow...but the baby makes me get cold easily.” I’d heard this grumble before and knew it was thanks to me, and therefore our kid, having a lower core temp than her.

  I let out a sigh of relief as she turned down the heater, relaxing back into my seat and chuckling. “Which is why I don’t mind you baking me when you need to or trying to crawl into my coat when the wind picks up.” My clothing was thicker and baggier than normal clothing, thanks to the snaps that held the extra fabric at bay for when I turned. I looked over at Thunder as she poked the drive button and floored the truck, because she was worse than me about speeding. A smile crossed my face as she let out squeals of joy, the truck throwing up four plumes of snow and dirt as she tore down the stake lined road. Lights lined the near straight path of the road ahead of us. “You’re almost as bad as the bunnies...little speed demon.”

  “I’m not nearly as bad as they are, my husband. The smaller ones are the worst...even if they do not blur.” Her finger pressed the button to turn on the lights that now ringed the top of the cab, showing that we had a jet black drone flying on either side of us. Two drones, each with a bunny laying low over the main body of it and a five point seven machine gun mounted under it. The pilots were in an odd heated suit that Xavier had come up with, and the sudden flare of flames from the back of the drones showed the alcohol and nitrous oxide main drive firing. “And...they’re gone.” she said as the duo of “drones” shot away like rockets, climbing higher.

  “They stole some of the Rodu fuel compressors, little shits are using them to compress hydrogen and oxygen, which they also then use for fuel.” The second batch was already learning fast and the third batch was growing in the iron wombs, which thankfully was going to be the last batch. The first batch of the horde had been busy underground, so I wasn’t surprised when a squad of fast-attack turretless tanks rocketed up from a hidden tunnel. “They’re also producing ethanol style fuels…”

  “They got them working!” She squealed and kept us centered in the road as five tanks roughly the size of a sedan flared out flames from the turbine exhaust. “They’re still running over fueled.” She commented as you could tell when the little tanks shifted gears, blasts of greenish yellow flame shot out of the air intakes. It didn’t take away from three of the five being armed with thirty millimeter chainguns, another had what looked like a single fat railgun.

  The last one...caused me to laugh, because it was an extra...and had a more person sized canopy. It also had a fat heavily armored laser unit, which looked to have more than one of the shoulder fired units feeding to it. It also had what had to be a dozen different hazard signs painted on it, and the image of a mantis with laser eyes. “They got one of the bugs to drive one of those damned things?” The little tanks were only the size of a sedan, but they were louder than the fuel powered tanks I remember. Well sort of remember, do nightmares count as remembering?

  Thunder squeaked and shook her head, the truck pounding through the snow, the tanks roaring and hurling snow as they escorted us. “Manti! Not bugs!” She said firmly in that royal wifey tone she got when I’d used a wrong term. “You have to learn to say things properly!” She’d of crossed her arms and given me the look if…was that needle pegged!?

  It was my turn to squeak as I realized that she’d pegged the Warg’s speedometer, which I’d jokingly had set to max out at eighty miles an hour. Sure I’d pegged it quite a few times, but that wasn’t in snow. “There's a turn...slow down” My answer was a disgruntled clicking noise, which was her form of a harumph. “Thunder...that’s a turn…”

  She rolled her eyes. “Males…” She clicked again and popped the button to down shift the truck, jerking the wheel hard into the turn, and then toward the outside as the truck broke traction and went sideways. I might have made a very terrified squeal as she stomped the throttle down, I personally expected the heavy truck to dig in and flip. Instead she drifted the corner with all five tanks drifting with her. “You do not use brakes in snow.” She said in that same damned noble wifey tone, which was still squeaky and cute, for me at least.

  I huffed and stopped gripping the center console and the grab handle over the window as tightly as I had been. “Don’t give me that shit again or I’ll tickle you until you are a squeaky twitchy mess.” I said firmly, and I knew why the Lo’Kar were so matriarchal, the males were smaller. They were also stuck with an odd two females for every male breeding issue, which had ingrained the “protect the males” mindset into the females to where it was instinctual. “Your people have spent more than a generation or two dealing with strong males…”

  “Strong males that can break and need a strong female to rebuild them!” She snapped and jerked the wheel, slamming me into the door as she drifted the next turn in the road. “Husband, I am trying, but you have your odd human ways and I have my odd ways from my mother.”

  “Strong women also need help, like you’re going to need help when your belly gets bigger.” I smiled. “Honestly hoping the kid is more your size than my size.”

  “You’re not the only one, husband.” She said as she straightened the truck out, letting out a soft sigh as the lights of the colony came into view, though it was more the lights shining off of the hull of the Yangtze that I could make out. “You know that he is going to force me to come in for a check up if he finds out we are there…”

  She meant Albert, the tiny bunny was so damned fanatically curious about not just the fact that I’d gotten her pregnant, but that the child was growing well. “Hold up.” I said as one of the little tanks fired up a red flare ahead of us. The group had come to a stop in a line across the road, my eyes barely making out the flares of small thrusters in the air. “They’re moving a herd…”

  A few clicks rolled out of Thunder as she throttled down and got the truck to roll to a stop a short distance behind the tanks. “Of all of the creatures on this planet…your people chose to herd your beasts with those…” She waved a hand in a way she’d picked up from hanging around humans too much, because ahead of us were O’Pangs chuffing along with the shaggy coated long horned cattle we had. The only reason the cattle had thick shaggy coats…was a certain bunny, who had gotten the herd dosed with a retrovirus.

  A smile split my face as I saw an odd outline breaking from the herd, Bowler had grown quite a bit since he’d been adopted by the bunnies and various others. The main “other” was Yinyang, who was currently riding the spoiled adolescent monster as if he were an ox. Bowler was heading for the truck and I sighed. “Be a moment Thunder, if he’s riding over, it means he has something to report.”

  She waved a hand. “I don’t mind, cold out there and warm in here..” Then she zipped up her coat before I stepped out into the snow, and I could hear her chittering and squeaking grumblings as I shut the door. She hated not being able to do everything she had, let alone the fact that I knew if she’d come out…she’d crawl into my coat like a squirrel.

  I walked a little bit from the truck and only had to wait a moment before Bowler plowed his way through the snow to me and shoved his big fuzzy head into my chest. “Hey Bowler…the cranky one treating you well?” I asked and used my small claws to work into the thick stiff fur around Bowler’s head.

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  Snow splashed up beside me and I casually cocked my head to get a look at Yinyang, who was shorter than me, but built just as strongly. His ancestry was most definitely mongolian, and Miss Li had mentioned something about Ghengis’s offspring. He always looked like he was squinting, though he was standing knee deep in snow in his bare feet, shorts, and a vest. “It’s so cold out here that I finally had to put on a vest…” A vest he reached into and pulled a small tablet from, passing it to me. “That, and I had to bring this to you. Albert told me that you asked to have the files on all of the problem cases?” He half asked as he looked up at me with that stone faced squint. All of my asian berserkers lacked the engrish sound, and much more cultured ways of speaking it. Better than I spoke it naturally.

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You and Jira need to snuggle…I swear, maybe then I can get her to do something other than try to hit me when I try to get her outside.” I had asked for the files and everything on the troublemakers in the colony, which meant Albert had gotten Adam’s assistance. The Ai had his cybernetic fingertips into everything, but at the same time I didn’t want him bored.

  He glared at me…at least I think that was a glare, god it was so damned hard to tell. “Jira…” He sighed. “She already has used me as her personal heater. And she also bites.” He shifted the shoulder of his vest off to show many faint lines of scaring. “Did you know that she’s poisonous even when human? I found it out when Albert woke me up in the medical bay.” He growled and Bowler head butted into him, not allowing his favored person to be angry.

  I flipped through a couple of the files, the usual sorts of Karens and Kevins that had little notes about visits scheduled to work crews. Crimes that we didn’t simply kill for like rape and murder, were sent to do hard manual labor. “Yes I know she is, she’s bitten me as well, just bite her back, or remind her that she too can have a thick fluffy coat.” What I meant was Albert’s constant offer to give anyone and everyone…fur. Hell one of the lab crews always had at least one person that looked like a brightly colored lab experiment gone wrong.

  “I learned that on my own, I was never like her or Miss Li, I only got the mods so I could better do my work. I only killed people when I had to.” He pet Bowler, who was wagging his broad plated tail like a multi-ton puppy. “It is hard for me to do what you all do in combat…and Spot…he’s finally gotten to where he doesn’t try and chase his weapon’s laser.” He shook his head. “It would be funny if it wasn’t such a damned danger. And have a talk with Isaac please.” He sighed. “Get him used to all lasers…and not to do all but red dots…”

  I grinned wickedly. “Oh no, you don’t ask me that…you ask his mother.” Those damned squinty eyes snapped wider as I spoke. “She isn’t like a Don or a Grandfather, or whatever the Tong had, she’s worse…she’s a mom.” I winked. “Fear not the warlord or the warrior, fear the woman he loves and behaves for.”

  Yinyang groaned. “I will have to bring her some steaks and fresh vegetables from the grow houses later. And then she is the proper one to talk to, bunny issues should be handled by them?” He asked curiously.

  “Within reason, depends on who it is for the person you bring it up to…” As I went to looking at a new set of profiles…the screen blanked. “The hell…”

  Then the damned tablet showed a pale synthetic face with jet black hair and a trimmed I guess euro styled mustache. Red eyes looked right into mine from the screen as binary flowed across them instead of having pupils. “Good day Major, the rest of the gathered profiles will have to wait until after you’ve spoken with Captain Rowland.”

  I couldn’t stop my brow from snapping up that sentence. “And why is that Adam…and a new look? Tired of the whole biblical thing?”

  The figure bent into a bow on my screen as the view pulled back, showing Adam’s avatar was wearing a very fine suit as well. “Yes I was and Dorothy helped me pick out the new clothing, she’s doing some other upgrades as well for me, hence why I can reach you currently.” His form shrugged. “The profiles…well a few of the ones remaining are people you cannot view until after you have your chat with the Captain…soon to be voted Governor.”

  “Are you rigging an election?” Yinyang asked curiously, moving more to my side and looking down at the screen. Him and those damned squinty eyes….

  “Oh no, since he is the highest human commander…he by Alliance treaty cannot be listed as a warrior. So Commander Wulf will soon become Captain Wulf, and Captain Rowland will be Governor…for the first full planetary cycle.” The Ai said cheerfully, just shy of the cheer a teen had after having sex the first time.

  “That’s kinda short isn’t it? I mean one year before someone else can try for the position?” I asked and brushed some snow from around the warm screen.

  The Ai let out a snort and then looked at Yinyang and my faces in disbeleif. “Gentlemen, each of the seasons here is slightly longer than an earth year. I have gathered this from information smuggled to me by various sources…” That was right, thanks to a little pushing from the four horsemen…still wondering who came up with that name for Xavier and Lola’s kids…but after a little pushing from them, Captain Rowland had put Adam in charge of intelligence.

  Yinyang groaned and shook his head. “That’s why I see Miss Li talking to thin air sometimes, and Jira…”

  “And many more Yinyang, but yes those two help me gather intelligence data, the bunnies, and others. The issues for the Major are less to do with newly gathered intelligence than intelligence I’ve stolen in the past and recently decrypted.”

  I couldn’t help but let out a bark of a laugh. “They were always scared you’d go Skynet on their asses back home, you just went around stealing all the files instead?”

  He put a hand to his avatar chest and feigned shock. “Major O’Connell, you think I’d have gone through my own side’s databases and taken every shiny bit of classified data I could?” He asked and then smiled. “You’re right, serves them right for being all wimpy about thinking I’d go insane and use you all for batteries or some shit.” He scoffed. “Fission and fusion reactors would be better, but I get along with enough humans and the bunnies have been…therapeutic.” Fingers snapped and he looked to me. “Oh and Albert says that your wife should come visit him while you’re talking with the Captain, something about testing she’d asked the results on.”

  Yinyang huffed and gave me a little side eye. “Alright, well I have to get back to work getting the herds into the other pastures…” Skilled theive’s fingers plucked the tablet from my hands. “And you need to chat with the Captain and let Thunder get to Albert.”

  “Be safe Gentlemen.” Came from the Tablet before it powered down.

  “It’s odd seeing him with the new form and all that….when did he do that?” I asked and brushed the snow from my shoulders.

  “Back when we were first getting the mixed forces working together…he’s been as nosy as your government used to be, you know he can tie into anything in our systems right?” Yinyang asked and shook himself to get snow off.

  I shrugged. “Could be worse…I’d rather have a nosy Ai than a murdery Ai.” I winked at him and turned back for the truck. Thunder had been keeping herself busy reading translated books, because english was hard enough to speak..let alone the spelling of the words. Then you had british english and american english and…I could bitch about all this for hours. I slipped myself into the truck as quickly as I could after brushing off the snow.

  She didn’t even look up from her tablet, eyes scrolling across the words as casually as if I’d not come in. “So, how is your spy?” She was so damned casual about it that it took me a moment to realize what she’d said.

  I blinked. “He’s not a spy…he’s just very good at gathering information on problem people for me.” I snorted. “Besides he doesn’t like blatantly killing people, I think he handled projects for the Tong, but none of them want to talk about that.” I buckled back into my seat and let out a sigh.

  She made a clicky purr and finally looked over at me. “No wonder you humans have so many mental issues…and you’re more tribal than the Ca’Zeze…”

  “Says the half Ca’Zeze….”

  She growled…and it sounded so cute to me, like a puppy or a really small dog, the murderous tint to her eyes wasn’t as cute though. That part would scare anyone…who didn’t get the look daily like I did. “I am…and you’d best be happy about that husband. After all if I wasn’t…then I would have not gone into heat…and we’d not be wed currently.” She took that imperious tone and squeaked when I pinched her behind.

  I couldn’t help but laugh as I fended off some very strong swatting hands, finally catching her wrists in mine. “Oh…and while I’m talking with the Captain, Albert has something you asked him about?” I said with the question in my tone, because I was going to be nosy on this.

  She went rigid for a second, then jerked her hands free and held the steering wheel. “It is nothing you need to worry about…and if it is, it won’t be bad. I asked him to run some tests, and get back to me with the results. It’s a surprise and I’m not saying anymore on the subject.” She swatted my hand as I tried to poke her, hard enough for it to sting…did I mention my wife was stout as hell?

  “As you wish love…I’ll find out soon enough.” I might of flinched at the side eye glare she gave me then. “When you tell me of course. I wouldn’t go behind your back…”

  *****************************

  The medical labs took up what had once been the med lab, animal area, a storage bay, was secured by Ai controlled doors, and a rotating crew of bunny guards. Said bunnies tended to wear the mark four and five suits that Marie had designed. Fours went to the non-tanks, and fives sounded like a car walking around, because Tanks needed everything reinforced.

  One of the most cute and terrifying things I’d seen so far was Miss Jira and Li teaching the bunnies hand to hand combat. The meditation tricks they taught also helped keep things from randomly exploding or being ripped to bits.

  Thunder had sent me off to speak with the Captain after we’d reached the labs…and the outer guard said I could go in…if I wrestled her for it. I passed, since getting kicked through a steel bulkhead would smart badly. I also had somewhere else to be.

  Freight lifts had been set up as the ship’s modules had been shifted and moved with the large amounts of cleared space. The ladders now had doors over their nitches and I was thankful that there were more open stairways than we’d had before. It allowed more people to use them at once, or some of us larger folk to not constantly be bashing our heads and elbows into things. Even if the first stair refit had happened when Jira had gotten stuck and ripped out two floors of stairs getting free…the new ones were nice.

  There wasn’t even a bit of rattle as my feet pounded up the steps, yet I knew they could be released on command. No one wanted to risk a berserker getting stuck…and going berserk. It also let us put lots of cameras in the stairways, and let some of the technical and engineering crew test out having the mimics help in building. Apparently Li Wei had gotten with Dorothy and Isaac to translate the alterations to the mimics…and a horde of them had eaten and rebuilt the stairwells. Very few had heard the story I had, but word was gently spreading that the Mimics could build some things.

  There was also a former storage bay that had mysteriously been completely altered into barracks and housing fit for a thousand rabbits. There wasn’t a thousand rabbits on this planet, but they were also rabbits, so it wouldn’t take too long. I didn’t know before that normal rabbit females had two wombs…ye flippin gods, thankfully neither Lola nor any of the other females had that issue.

  I had to pause in my fast pace because one of the bunnies was blocking the path while two others were guiding a mimic that was running fat bundles of cable and seeming to grow piping over them. “Be just a moment Uncle Fluffy…running new power feeds for some of the sections we’re going to be altering next.” His translator spoke and I saw a shrug then leaned on a wall to wait. He had one of the spiffy new models that looked like a throat mic and had an ear clip, just as nice as the one Grek used.

  I looked up between the stairs and noted that there was a human man on the landing above me, no doubt making sure that no one came down. “No worries. I’m good so long as no one decides to hand me a flashbang without its pin again…” I saw the ear twitch on more than one of the bunnies. “Ah…so you know about those games?”

  “We tend to use other things inside the ship, the Captain has gotten cranky about us doing such things with flashbangs…” Came from the one sitting on the railing.

  “There’s still a blank spot on the wall of the barracks from where he walked in there when we were painting it…” Came from one of the ones checking the mounting for the pipe.

  I snorted. “Let me guess, you were either using paint bombs and he came to check out the thumping, or you were using a suit to spray the place down and hosed him?”

  “A lot from column A and a dash from column B. His one set of clothes is stained forest green now.” The one sitting on the railing said and motioned me up as the mimic went into the wall, the rabbit hopping over to an open access hatch to vanish.

  I couldn’t help but shake my head as I started back up the stairs, not only did we have intelligent races on this planet. Humans had accidently gone a step further and made another race out of simple animals. Then they’d made friends with the only AI we had, which took care of everything automated, and now we had hundreds of them. That wasn’t even counting the various other lab experiments set free and “adjusted” by the mad scientist Albert, and a few of the humans.

  My thoughts left that subject as I headed down the hall through what had become the new officer’s country, which actually had quite a bit of brass used in various places now. It was almost as if some smart ass that had been in on the refit of this area had slipped in higher brass fitting use. And then I was stopping and staring, that wasn’t brass, that was red gold, I was going to have to have a talk with someone about the use of shiny things in rebuilding the Yangtze from colony ship to primary colony building. Not that it mattered a ton with the salvaging work going on in orbit, something I’d yet to get up to see. Apparently Blitz had talked with the other pilots and all of the berserkers were currently black listed from field trips into space.

  That said, I didn’t really mind. I wasn’t a fan of zero g stuff, and most of our pilots seemed to simply like crushing their passengers with gravity. The one point three g’s of this planet were fine for me, and helped me do as I was doing now, trying to walk quietly. I loved being a rather big guy, who could walk really quietly, in space I had to wear mag boots and couldn’t be quiet. I wasn’t one of the acrobatically weird spacers or like some of my people that didn’t need the boots, instead I’m a ground pounder.

  That aside, I’d reached Rowland’s door and found a cap hanging from the knob and smiled since the cap was a trick my people used. I spun the cap on my finger as I put my wrist to the scanner beside the door, which read the new implants that Dorothy’s team had gotten working and not shorting out from the Caltunium. There was a soft click as the bolts let loose and I slipped in, leaving the cap on the knob. Of course that was when I noticed the scents in the quarters of rutting and such, and then the sounds of the Captain having fun with…a sniff of the air…Hellena Evans and Andy Roland. Naughty brits had kept this rather quiet, but I also heard a guitar blaring.

  I stepped out of my boots in the entryway and looked down the hall, seeing not only was the bedroom door open abit, but Maestro was jamming on the kitchen table with Elizabeth and Bubbles enjoying the music the bunny was playing. Of course it was “Voodoo Child” that he was playing with hand-paws flying over the strings of his custom dual guitar, and his ears working the cords. Or at least that’s what it looked like when I locked eyes with him and the song phased down. Quickly enough he started playing “War Pigs” and I snorted, rolling my eyes as I started that way.

  As I passed the door and noticed a familiar rear end doing the motions I took a slightly deeper sniff, being passed the doorway before I spoke. “Your old implant died, you’re fertile!” I called out, just helping of course.

  “Bollocks!” Flew from Rowland’s mouth as the bed audibly creaked.

  Feet clapped on the floor and I heard Evan’s sigh as she moved to change around their fun. “Oh you like bein a bugger…” The door slammed shut on the room as I let out a mildly loud braying laugh.

  Of course that laugh died when I took a sudden Bubbles to the face, and had to pet the mimic as he crawled over me. Bubbles loved being pet and kneaded on, and luckily only ate “his person’s” clothes.

  It only took a moment for Bubbles to settle down hanging from one of my shoulders, though Elizabeth came over and both my hands ended up being used to pet them. Maestro slowly stopped playing and slipped his guitar into its case, hopping over to make more coffee. “One for me too please.” I said as I sat back and relaxed, petting the two hand whores and listening to a british musical. That got me thinking on comments about Lo’Kar women being loud, but oh look coffee…

  Maestro got back to the table and slid me a mug of coffee, which apparently his people had started to grow…somewhere. A second later, he was back on the table with his own cup and sipping from it as his ears were flipped back. After a contented sigh, his eyes flicked toward me and he made a motion like playing a guitar and gave a little chin nod at me.

  “I can’t play a guitar, little buddy…” I wiggled claw tipped fingers in the air. “My claws are a little harder on strings than yours are.” He slumped at my words and I pat Bubbles softly. “G’down Bubbles, I have to see if the Captain still has something.” My getting up caused Maestro to turn his head and follow me with his eyes as I moved to check on…oh yes he did have it still. “Well shit, I knew he’d keep the damned thing.” I reached in and pulled out a heavy case that wasn’t that thick, but was about five feet long.

  As soon as I put the case onto the counter, I had small fuzzy hands helping me work the latches and open it. As I saw what was inside, I admired it for a moment before looking at Maestro…who was staring slack jawed. It was a full keyboard with a wireless set of foot triggers, which had cost a ton back on Earth. “This…is what I can play.” I was grinning like an idiot as I shifted the case and relatched the latches to new points so it was now a stand. “Thing cost me a few months' pay.” I bent to put the pedal box on the floor and got hopped on as Maestro plugged my rig into a socket.

  A moment later I got everything set up and with a few tries on keys, I nodded and smiled. “Pianos are massive and heavy…how about Through the fire and flames?” I saw his ears snap up and he actually did a backflip from the counter to the table, getting his guitar strapped back on. “Ready?” I couldn’t help but grin as he nodded early, bending his head to curl the ends of his ears around the necks of his guitar. “Ok, 3…2…1” His claw tipped fluffy fingers flew over strings as mine started to fly over keys.

  Both of us had our volumes slightly higher than polite levels, not the Bubbles or Elizabeth minded. The Mimic was bouncing and changing colors to the music, while Elizabeth was wagging her tail and bobbing her head to it as we jammed. We soon enough went back into things like Crazy Train, Enter Sandman, and others that Maestro picked out with his tablet.

  That is until we were finally interrupted by Evans and Rowland strolling into the kitchen, the former in a robe, and the latter in night pants. Maestro put his guitar back into its case before moving to rub his ears down with an ointment Albert had being made for them. And one might wonder about him using his ears to play a guitar...they were muscled, hence the ointment being used. “Bout bloody time you got that thing back from me, now I can use that closet for a closet.” Rowland said as he poured coffee for himself and Evans. “Adam said it was time to talk about the fun things.”

  I looked between them and shook my head. “So is that why Helena is in a robe, so she can use the orbs of distraction on me if I get upset?” I asked them curiously as I was packing my keyboard back up into its case.

  She snorted. “No, I’m in a robe because it’s comfy. If you go batty or act like a twat…I’ll just ask Bubbles to hog tie you.”

  As Rowland was taking a drink of his coffee I smiled. “And here I thought you’d be cheerful after getting your crumpet munched…” I grinned as the good Captain choked on his coffee, which got me a well earned punch in the arm from Helena.

  “Tosser…thanks for the warning though.” She said before sitting down and nodding to Maestro, who punched in a code into the keypad by the stove. The clack of the main door locking sounded as the bunny moved to open a drawer and get out a syringe. “Before we talk, use that. I got worked up when Andy filled me in…quit giggling ya knobhead.” She sighed and rolled her eyes before pointing to the injection. “Use it.”

  Andy moved over and sat down at the head of the table, idly petting Elizabeth as he watched me drain the shot into my neck and hand it back to Maestro. “Alright, first of all let me just say that I’ve known of this issue since we made the FOB. Adam asked me to keep it secret due to issues it might cause with the crew, especially a certain tosser of a werewolf. Who might I add, had recently turned into a half feral emotional bag of joy.”

  I sighed as liquid fire flowing through my veins rapidly turned into an intense calm, this batch was a really good one. It didn’t stop me from making a rolling motion with my hand. “Alright, so you didn’t find out until a while back. What’s going on?”

  Helena sighed and rubbed her face. “The Federation tried to kill us and use that Chicom bunker to do it, and as a way of covering it up.”

  My reaction was a simple shrug. “Most of us kinda figured that from the start, we were the used and unloved.” My eyes flicked to Helena’s. “And Hel, you know I told the teams that it didn’t matter since we’d survived. Aside from it cutting all our ties to back home, well…this is now home.” I’d had to talk to several of my team leads about it, and still felt we had more to worry about here than the pricks back home.

  Andy poked a button and kicked on a vent before he tossed me a cigar from a drawer and lit one for himself. Maestro and Helena didn’t smoke, but they didn’t care so long as we didn’t blow it into their faces. “The problem is the dozens of sleepers and fanatics they slipped into the damned cryopods as civilians. Fake backgrounds and covers for the whole lot of them.” He bitched and leaned back in his chair.

  “About 9 dozen to be exact, but we think ten of them died already thanks to accidents and the mineral.” Helena continued. “If the accident failed, they were supposed to send the colony into chaos and all that.” And then she smiled. “But aside from being lucky with Adam, we also got lucky in that an agent that had his family with him…wasn’t so happy about hearing all this news.” She got a predatory grin. “An agent…that you and I both know.”

  I froze, cigar between my fingers, eyes locked on hers, smoke rolling out of my mouth before I sucked it in with a deep breath. It took a second, but I let the breath out slowly and shook my head. “He supposedly died while we were taking Korea, let me guess, they lied to us about that?” I asked and was still slowly taking deep breaths, I could feel my eye twitching and took a puff of my cigar.

  Andy spoke up this time. “No, he faked his death, and killed several other agents when he blew the building.” He was watching me like I was a shiny coin he thought might explode, damned crow eyes. “Bloody good thing too, he’s been very helpful since Adam figured out who he really was. Thomas Washington.”

  My knuckles popped and I looked down at my free hand, shaking it out and letting out a sigh as I held it up. “No fur, still good.” I took a moment, sighing as I tried to process the lead “Agent” that had handled my teams was still alive. He’d been the epitome of the uncaring and heartless government agent, and the bastard had always carried a damned squeaky toy with him. “So let me guess, the idiots they sent to sabotage us…are thinking he’s the second coming?”

  Helena let out a short giggle and smiled. “Yep, a few of them recognized him and he’s been doing his best to keep them from actually messing up the colony, or murdering aliens, or the dozen other things they wanted to try.” She nodded to Andy, knowing full well that Thomas Washington had been someone I had never liked or gotten along with.

  “He’s run low on options of keeping them busy, and some of the fanatics are starting to question him. Thankfully, he’s reported through dead drops that he’s gotten all or close to all of them rounded up. All he needs is the sign that the round up is going to happen so he can get his family safe. Wife and daughter, wife was saved by Albert.” Andy said and sighed and nodded to me. “You’re still head of our security, the choice is yours mate, capture them, or kill them?”

  I didn’t even hesitate. “Give him the warning to get safe…but purge the others. I just want to have a talk with him after…and I’ll need another shot for it.” And then I heard a throat clearing behind me and figured Maestro was just getting some flem loose. Right up until a somber tenor filled the air. “Adam! Code Judas Priest. Mission type is, All Guns Blazing.”

  Adam spoke from the room’s intercom. “Acknowledged First Strategist. First sergeant Xavier and First Mother will arrive on target in ten minutes.”

  I could hear the song starting to blare through the Yangtze and no doubt the entire colony, but I was staring at Maestro. “I thought you were a damned mute!”

  “I was, I had Albert fix it.” Maestro said and took a sip of coffee. “And I need to save my voice for singing.” He spoke softly.

  “Wait, you’re speaking English and not chitter.”

  “Of course, I mentioned singing.” He said and took in a deep breath before making my nearly fall out of my chair as he shouted. “ALL ABOARD!” And then he smiled at me and bowed. “I am Maestro, battle conductor and First Strategist of the Order of Bun Bun.”

  His voice finally clicked in my head and I blinked a few times. “Albert gave you a voice like Ozzy!?” The name might of come out in a dash of a squeak as I stared at the bunny, who simply nodded.

  “Mate, he was singing for hours before you showed up, and been jamming as well.” Andy said and I looked back at him to see him grinning. “You sent em to me to practice and learn. He wanted to learn from the start, like you no doubt had to learn beethoven whenever you learned to play that.” He nodded at my stowed keyboard.

  Helena got up. “Now let’s go sit on the couch and Adam can send us the feeds to watch. Lola has been wanting to test out the mark 10.”