"We are here to liberate the human race from the tyranny of the Terran Government. We ask that you surrender immediately.
If you choose to oppose us in the fight for freedom you will be destroyed."

 
by Lisa Caitlin Grey

 

---

 
This story is dedicated to my beloved friend and soul mate who passed away in November of 2002. Dana, I will always miss you terribly.
 
Part 14: Liberation
 
Chapter 44
 
 
There were more than a few tears shed when we saw Miri and Brock to the shuttle that morning. Shuttles were beginning to arrive with returning crewmembers as Dan and I watched Miri's shuttle depart. I sighed, hugged Dan, and then squared my shoulders and slipped into my "Admiral" persona.

"I am going to miss her terribly," I said to Dan.

"Me too, Valerie," he said.

"All right, it looks like the kids are coming back," I said turning to business. "As soon as they are all back and settled in I want to get started on our pre-launch checks."

"Aye, aye, Admiral, ma'am!" Dan said, smiling at me. "I guess you made Admiral after all, huh."

"I guess I did at that," I smiled back.

I had to admit; our fleet was impressive. The three task forces were based on the same breakdown. In my command, in addition to the Serendipity, I had three other super dreadnoughts. Each of the dreadnoughts was escorted by four of the heavy super cruisers, six light super cruisers, and twelve super destroyers. In addition to these forces, the dreadnoughts could deploy 40 fighters each and also had four Duality MkII class corvettes that could be used when needed. When the appointed time arrived, 276 ships made the first jump of our expedition. A week later, we sat at the edge of the blockade's detection range waiting for TSN traffic to clear the area.

"Miz Albright, get me a feed to all Task Force Bravo ships and have them pipe this to all personnel," I said.

"Yes, Ma'am," my comm officer said crisply. A few seconds later she informed me the channel was open.

"Alright, boys and girls," I said to my crews, "this is it. We are about to enter hostile territory. From this moment on, I need each of you to be on your toes. We are an untested fleet, in untested ships, with mostly untested crews. That's all about to change. The crucible of battle will forge us into the highly efficient, highly motivated, cohesive unit that will make our enemies tremble before us. Either that or we are dog meat.

"But I know each of you was handpicked for this mission because you are the best and brightest the Zone has to offer. I know you will shine when it drops in the pot. When we cross the blockade and jump, we will be engaging any TSN ships that we might happen on. At first this won't be a big challenge, but eventually, we will be noticed and the opposition will get stronger. I want you all to remember this. This is not a suicide mission. Many of us won't be coming home, having given the most anyone could possibly give for their brothers and sisters, but that doesn't mean we are expendable. We carry the hope of our people with us. We go to free humanity from its oppressors.

"Remember, between the Resistance and the Zone blockade, fully half of their fleet is tied down. Another third will be guarding their assets, which means we will be facing less than a quarter of their fleet. That's still a tough nut to crack, but we have the talent, the motivation and the power to pull this off. Victory WILL BE OURS! Good luck to you all. That is all."

Over the next couple of weeks my battle group shook down nicely. We hadn't seen a great deal of the TSN, mainly just a ship here, or a couple of ships there. When we exited hyperspace, if there were any TSN ships, we would annihilate them before they had a chance to get word out about us. We were able to stay out of the TSN's sight for longer than we expected.

So it was, when we arrived at our first target, a dreadnought manufacturing facility, we caught them flat-footed. Six dreadnoughts and their associated escorts guarded the facility. It was to be our first real test in combat. One of our battle groups would take out the defenders while another would go for the facility. The third battle group would hang back just out of detection range and ambush any reinforcements.

My battle group, being the least experienced, although that was a negligible distinction, got the task of eliminating the defenders, while Admiral Shehane would take out the manufacturing facilities. My tactics here were simple, as are the best tactics. We would approach in the classic wall formation, with a twist. We didn't have to turn broadside to bring our full firepower to bear so we could move our "wall" forward. We also had the advantage of having range on most of the TSN fleet so we could stand off just out of their range and pound them. One thing was certain though, with so many enemy assets in the area with long range Hyperwave comms, the TSN would now be on to us.

We went in broadcasting in the clear on all channels. "We are here to liberate the human race from the tyranny of the Terran Government. We ask that you surrender immediately. If you choose to oppose us in the fight for freedom you will be destroyed."

I watched as a small fast ship broke formation and jumped out of the system. The jig was up, but they hadn't had time to gather intel on our capabilities. The TSN would make a few blunders sending ships into our teeth before they realized the power we had.

There were no surrenders, as we expected. People wouldn't surrender to an unknown force without knowing that we had a chance to win. Good enough, though. A few examples would need to be made before we received respect as a combat force. I moved my group in to engage the enemy.

It was a slaughter. Our new ships proved to be as combat effective as I had hoped. As we closed to the extremes of their gunnery range, they opened up on us. Their fire virtually just bounced off our hulls, thanks to the DES units. Our return fire was more effective. Several of their lighter ships were taken out. Still, we closed range. Our higher rate of fire began to take its toll as the first of the dreadnoughts vaporized in a reactor overload. The space between our forces was thick with missile fire and our point defenses were constantly sweeping our path of the incoming missiles.

We still had yet to take any serious damage. One by one, their ships-of-the-line fell silent under our withering fire, until all at once, we had no opposition left. They had simply been over-matched and had been annihilated. I hoped this wouldn't happen too much more because it was a terrible waste of life, but my resolve was clear. I would do whatever it took, kill as many as stood against me until my family and my people were free.

After allowing everyone to abandon the orbital facilities and go to the planet surface, Admiral Shehane demolished the factory platform and the rest of the orbital assets in the area. For our first taste of combat as a fleet, we had done very well. Our moral was high and we had renewed hope that we might just live through this. Our analysis of the battle showed that per class, our ships could stand toe to toe with two of their TSN counterparts and still be reasonably assured of victory, thanks to the amazing fields of fire and the DES units.

Over the next few months the TSN learned this the hard way, as they sent task force after task force at us. They caught on to our objective, began to reinforce their shipyards and increasingly, the forces we faced were getting more numerous. We lost a few of the smaller ships, but largely our fleet remained intact, thanks to the very shipyards the TSN was trying to protect. They provided all the raw resources we needed for our auto-repair systems to restore our damages. Still, I knew that the TSN couldn't afford to allow us to continue with our success. Sooner or later, they would have to put together a fleet of ships that would overwhelm us with numbers. I suspected it would be sooner rather than later. It turned out I was right.
 
 
Chapter 45
 
 
This is not to say that fleet life was one battle after another. We had stretches where we wouldn't see another ship for days. During these times I would watch my XO. Erika was shaping up to be a fine command level officer. If I had to fault her on one thing, it was perhaps that she was trying too hard. She took things just a little too seriously, which was okay because we were about deadly serious business, but she needed to lighten up a bit. She was just a little too demanding of the crew. They were human and under a lot of stress. A good commander recognizes that and makes allowances without compromising discipline or reasonable performance expectations. In her zeal to please me, she set her expectations of the crew just a touch too high.

Having thought about the best way to handle it, I decided to do as Miri suggested. The girl seemed to idolize me. She had placed me on this pedestal that nobody could have lived up to. Then she tried to be worthy of that ideal. It was time to disabuse her of some of that, to make myself a little more human in her eyes. So it was, that one evening I discreetly invited her to my suite for dinner. I arranged it so we would have the whole night to ourselves. Being of flag rank meant that my command staff and I could be sequestered for hours in fleet planning sessions. Due to this added responsibility, we weren't expected to stand watch as well, even though I did myself and encouraged my other command officers to do so as well from time to time, to give the junior officers a break.

I made ready for the evening by having Dan, who was privy to the conversation that Miri and I had about Erika and could be trusted to be the very epitome of discretion, come up and work his magic with the replicator. While Dan was setting up the scene with dinner and atmosphere, I got myself ready. Poor Erika didn't have a chance. I laughed lightly at the incongruity of that thought.

It's not that I was dressed very sexy, on the surface anyway, but I did do my makeup in a dramatically sexy way and I was wearing my dark hair down in unruly silken cascades that framed my face in a devastating manner. I stood in the mirror, looking at myself in my jet-black uniform. I made a few adjustments here and there, and then, on an impulse, pulled the zipper down to where just the black lace edge of my lingerie could be seen if one was looking. And I knew she would be. She was always looking at me with a hungry look when she didn't think anyone was watching. I smiled at that. I was going to let her have her fill tonight. Satisfied that I was irresistible, I went out to chase Dan out of the room. Erika would be more comfortable if she thought nobody knew about what was going to happen.

-=^=-

Right on time, the door chime sounded. Punctual as always, I smiled. "Come in," I called, and then when I heard the door open, I said, "I'll be right with you. What would you like to drink?"

"Fruit juice would be great," Erika said.

"Fruit juice it is," I said from my position at the bar. "Go have a seat on the couch and I will bring it to you in a sec."

"Sure," she said. She still hadn't really seen me, as I had intended.

Also, as I had intended, she was sitting on the couch transfixed by the vista afforded from the floor-to-ceiling-wall-to-wall view screen that made up one end of the common room. It was currently depicting a 3D view of from one of the Serendipity's external cameras. I had to admit, the carefully chosen view of deep space, carpeted thickly with stars, was indeed a moving sight. It would make a wonderful backdrop for what was happening here tonight.

"Penny for your thoughts," I said, stepping up to her and offering her the glass of juice. She looked up and froze, eyes widening a bit when she saw me. She visibly gulped then accepted the glass when I arched an eyebrow.

"Thank you, Admiral, Ma'am," she said.

"Stow that crap," I told her. "It's just Valerie tonight, okay?"

"Yes Ma...er...Valerie," she said, smiling at her slip.

I sat down beside her with one leg tucked underneath and leaned back with my elbow on the back of the couch. "So, what were you thinking?" I prompted, as our knees 'accidentally' touched.

"I was just thinking it's so beautiful," she said looking into my eyes. "The stars, I mean," she clarified, clearly NOT meaning the stars.

"You really think so?" I asked, looking down demurely, seemingly inadvertently causing a bit of lace to peek out from the top of my uniform.

"Absolutely breathtaking," she said, smiling this time, having caught my unspoken message that we both knew that she wasn't talking about stars.

I grinned at her. "Are you hungry? Or perhaps you would like to go right to dessert?" I asked. She gulped again.

"Famished," she said recovering, with her own grin. "But I will save room for desert."

Throughout dinner we continued the innuendo and double speak. By the time we got through the excellent lasagna that Dan had coaxed out of the replicator, poor Erika was visibly excited. Her skin was slightly flushed and her breathing was a little bit more ragged than normal. I was having fun. I usually only used this part of my femininity with Miri. It was a powerful thing to twist somebody on the hook like I was doing. Of course, I would never have teased Erika if I hadn't intended to follow through.

We finished eating and I began to pick up the dishes. Erika followed suit. She followed me into the small galley area where I put down my load in the receptacle. Unburdened, I turned and 'accidentally' stepped into her, very close. I could feel her tension. She was very excited, but didn't want to over step her bounds. It was then that I shamelessly used her position, hands full of dishes, standing between me and the counter, unable to retreat.

"Did you save room for desert," I asked her breathlessly, leaning into her while I slipped my knee in between hers and gently ground my upper thigh into her mons. She nearly dropped the dishes in surprise. A tortured look briefly crossed her face, then was replaced with resolve.

"Valerie, I can't do this," she said, nudging me out of the way and putting up the dishes. "I don't poach on another woman's territory."

"Who says you're poaching?" I asked, smiling.

"I know you and Miri are life partners," she said. "I don't want to come between you two. I respect both you and Miri too much."

"Who says you would?" I asked. "What if I told you it was Miri's idea that we enjoy one another?

"You honestly expect me to believe Miri would share you?" Erika asked.

"She will when she feels that the person is special enough or deserving enough," I explained. "Provided, of course, I agree with her and am interested."

"Oh, so this is just some meaningless sexual reward?" Erika asked with evident disappointment.

"Not at all, Erika," I explained. "I'm not some prize you win at the arcade. If I were, I assure you, I would be the booby prize. What I am offering you is a chance to be close to me, to take pleasure in my company, in my body, to release the pent up stresses of battle - for both of us. I will be honest and say that I am completely committed to Miri, so I'm not saying that you and I are going to get married or anything. What I am offering you is comfort in the arms of a comrade. That, my dear, is not at all meaningless."

"Valerie, the day you are the booby prize, I wanna see what they are giving as the grand prize," Erika said without a trace of humor, "It would have to be the rights to the Fountain of Youth, or a one way trip to Paradise, eternal happiness, perhaps. Even still, I think I'd rather have the booby prize. Now why would Miri want you and me to enjoy each other?"

"Honestly, you should be honored," I told her. "I think she likes to put me in situations like this with people she respects. I think it boosts her ego when I always come back to her. To be honest though, it's only happened once before. And I was the mark in that little scheme. She and Brian set me up good, I'll tell you. I never saw it coming."

"And what if you didn't come back?" she asked.

"Then she'd hunt me down and beat me to death," I said glibly and then smiled. "Seriously though, there is very little chance of that. Don't get me wrong, I think you are gorgeous, but Miri and I are soul mates. Do you know what that means?"

"I...um...think so," she said hesitantly.

"Then you don't," I said. "Having a soul mate goes beyond simple attraction or respect, or even love. When you meet your soul mate, you feel an instant connection. You may have only met them five minutes ago, but you will feel like you have known them all your life. You feel instantaneously complete. Each time you see them, they will be more beautiful than the last time you saw them, even if it's just after you get up with them in the morning. After a period of time, this person becomes the center of your universe. Little else matters to you but their well being and happiness. When you lose your soul mate, you feel desperately empty inside, like half your heart has been ripped out and the wound will never heal, like the space will never be filled again. That's how I feel about Miri. That's why I will always come back to her."

"And what if the other person doesn't feel the same?" Erika asked.

'Uh oh,' I thought, 'Time to be diplomatic.' "Then perhaps the timing is not right," I said. "Perhaps the other person isn't ready for it. In that case, and I am no expert, you should keep your options open, take what solace you can and maybe you will meet a soul mate that is ready."

Erika looked pensive for a minute, then looked up and smiled at me. "Okay, Valerie, I think I am ready for dessert now," she said. I smiled and stepped up to her. She took me in her arms and we kissed. As the passion got too much to bear, we stumbled to my bed, still making out and trying to get undressed as we went.

Though Erika had the physique of a body builder, it was apparent she was just as much a woman as any of the rest of us. When she took off her uniform, there underneath it was the cutest little pink satin teddy. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

Erika was an accomplished lover, I found out. We enjoyed each other frequently after that and her interpersonal skills with the crew improved greatly. Happy people tend to be less demanding, you see. Things worked out great.
 
 
Chapter 46
 
 
Well, it had to happen. We just hadn't expected it to be like this. We jumped into the next target system and we found ourselves screwed. There, surrounding us, was the overwhelming fleet we had been waiting for...and then some.

Surrounding us, were the most ships I had ever seen in my life. There had to be more than a thousand ships. They hadn't started shooting yet, so I figured they were going to make a demand for our surrender. I was sure they were dying to get their hands on our ships so they could see how we were punishing them so badly.

"Alright, boys and girls," I said, "this is it. This is where we go down, but we are gonna hurt 'em real bad before we do. Donalson, find me a weak spot in their englobement. If we can get break through before they close to firing range we can put some distance between us and take out their heavies first. Albright, get me Admiral Shehane." It was time to earn my keep as the tactical genius.

A second later I had Jesse on the horn. I explained my plan and she approved it. "You lead, and we'll follow you through," she told me as the surrender demand came through.

We none too politely declined and out of sheer bravado issued our own demand for their surrender. There was no reply. Donalson found what I was looking for. It was an area that contained mostly cruisers and destroyers with only about ten dreadnoughts to bolster them. Only ten...sheesh, and that was the weak point.

We burned at full thrust for this spot. Meanwhile, I explained the plan to the commanders of our fleet. We would run until we just got out of their gunnery range, then slow to let the faster, more foolish, ships close with us. Then we would pick them off as they came into range. This would only work until we obliterated the first few ships. Then they would realize their error and not repeat it. Well, that's how I was thinking it would work.

"Admiral!" yelled a sensor tech, "There's a massive mine field beyond those ships in our flight path!"

"Damn!" I swore. "All ships break off. Battle groups, separate, and deploy; we are in the pot now. All we can do is deal out as much damage as we can until they get us. Bravo group, assume covering fire deployment. Deploy all fighters and corvettes; we need all the firepower we can get. Fire-control officers, pick your targets and concentrate your fire, one target at a time for every gun that can bear on it. Helm, keep us moving, and I want you to keep us as far away from any massed dreadnought group as you can. We'll shred their lighter ships, any small groups of dreadnoughts and then pick the large groups off piecemeal. Everyone, you know your job. Let's get it done!"

I watched the plot as the two fleets performed a deadly ballet. Jesse and Darius were using the same tactics we were; keep moving, stay away from the heavy concentrations. That was basic Sun Tzu. Where your enemy is weak, be strong. Where your enemy is strong, don't be there. Still, Bravo group seemed to be doing the most damage. We were leaving a trail of shot up and dead enemy ships behind us as we danced the dance. Miraculously, the Serendipity had yet to take a serious hit. In fact, my three other super dreadnoughts had only taken negligible damage. Bravo group had only lost four of our super destroyers and two super cruisers thus far, but it was about to get ugly, I saw.

Two groups of dreadnoughts had managed to come at us from both the front and the rear. There were more than 25 of them in each group. We had just about had it. That's when Darius circled his group around behind the group in front of us and engaged them from the rear. The dreadnoughts turned broadside to him and they began to pop like popcorn as Darius' fire began to take its toll. Then we were in range and opened up on them. The return fire was horrendous. We lost ten more of the smaller ships and our large ships were taking a pounding. Most of them had lost turrets and their combat effectiveness was being slowly degraded. The Serendipity herself had a few decks open to space, but she maintained her battle abilities.

"Thanks, Admiral Edmunds, I thought we were toast that time. You up for round two with the group behind us?" I asked.

"Bring um on, Admiral Callaway," Darius said. If anything, he was fairing worse than I was after that exchange. We had lost about 20 percent of our forces so far. The TSN had lost nearly fifty percent of theirs, but these were mostly heavy cruisers and lighter. We were NOT going to win a battle of attrition. Darius had lost all of his super destroyers and all but two of his light super cruisers, but he still had most of his heavies and all four super dreadnoughts.

"Okay, I'm breaking high. If they follow me, you engage them from behind and I engage them from the front," I said. "If they engage you, then I will hit them from above."

"Roger that," Darius said.

They came after me, making a critical tactical error. Before Darius could engage their six, I slowed and engaged them from the front. However, I kept moving so they had to pursue and couldn't turn broad side to us. That meant they could only engage us with half their firepower. Then Darius started picking them off from the rear. As the last of the dreadnoughts went reactor critical and incinerated itself in nuclear fire, I searched the plot for Alpha Group.

"Holy mother..." I said. Admiral Shehane's group was in the middle of the biggest fur ball I had ever seen. Ships seemed to seethe to the surface and then disappear as they maneuvered. "Admiral Shehane, hang in there! We're coming."

"Don't bother, Valerie," I heard Yolanda say. We're all but done. The Liberty is the last of our group and she can't take much more. We got a little surprise for them, though."

At that moment, what had to have been all four of the reactors on Admiral Shehane's ship went critical at the same time. The resulting explosion incinerated the whole engaging force that was pounding them. I was stunned. I felt numb inside at the loss of a lot of good friends. I didn't have time to dwell on it, though because the battle was still under way. Battle Groups Bravo and Charlie worked together seamlessly. We used our ability to outmaneuver the TSN heavies to flank them and time and time again obliterate them in the crossfire. Our super dreadnoughts engaged the TSN dreadnoughts while our cruisers destroyed anything smaller that entered our field of fire. It got to the point where the TSN forces gathered together, refusing to commit to our bait and be out flanked, so we stood off just at the edge of our weapon's range and concentrated our fire on one dreadnought at a time. Seeing their return fire was ineffective, they would have to charge us, but we maintained the range until their formation broke up, and then we caught them in the pincer again.

After what seemed like hours of fighting, it came down to Darius and I. The Serendipity was pummeled and just about done. Half her decks were open to vacuum and she was down to four turrets. Darius' ship, the Insurrection, was in a similar state. Two thirds of his decks were open to vacuum and he had six functional turrets. Surrounding us was the last of the remaining TSN fleet, four moderate to heavily damaged TSN dreadnoughts. The Serendipity and the Insurrection stood back to back, figuratively speaking. We had taken positions relative to one another where the bulk of the Serendipity covered the Insurrection's weak side and the Insurrection covered ours. We stood our ground and slugged it out.

Darius and I coordinated our fire on one dreadnought at a time. First one drifted dead in space venting cabin pressure, then another was consumed in secondary explosions. The Serendipity was down to one turret and the Insurrection was down to a few missile batteries. The remaining dreadnoughts continued to pound us while we responded with ineffective return fire.

I never saw the nuke that hit us. It punched through the hanger bay at the bottom of the ship and penetrated five decks into the core of the ship where the reactors were located before it detonated. I found out later that, due to a design quirk and some fortuitous battle damage we had received, the rotating top ten decks that made up the control center of the ship and housed the officers quarters, the computer rooms, Navigation, Fire Control and Tactical Control all blew off into space when the nuke blew. The Serendipity's reactors chain-reacted with the explosion and the resulting nuclear fire sent the Insurrection's reactor critical as well. When she went, the resulting blast and huge pieces of debris took out the remaining TSN dreadnoughts.

I guess we were spared due to a combination of the heavy EMP shielding on the computer deck, the fact that the initial blast had sent us rocketing away and the intervening six decks. The only decks left intact were the top three. Those of us still alive were out cold, so we never saw the Duality MkII corvette blast free of the hanger deck of one of the destroyed super dreadnoughts and make a hyperspace jump.
 
 
Chapter 47
 
 
When the forty survivors came to, we found that the airtight doors had slammed shut and we were holding atmosphere. We had power, but we were effectively blind and dumb. The external cameras were all offline and our antenna array hadn't survived. We could do nothing but survive. The replicator ran off of emergency power, as did the air scrubbers and the heat.

"Okay people," I said, as everyone became alert enough to follow orders. "Our priority now is survival." I looked at the fearful visages around me, waiting for me to give an order, some order that would save our lives. After a moment of introspection about what had brought us to this point, I began to issue orders.

"Erika, I want you to pick some people and give me a damage estimate. What is still available? Dan, I need you to get working on the radios. See if you can come up with some way to communicate. Albright, find someone trained in first aid; collect and treat the wounded. Donalson, I need you to get with Simmons and you two work up a rough estimate of how long our air, food, and heat will hold out on emergency power," I clicked off crisply. I suspected we were screwed, but if I kept my people busy they wouldn't have time to be fatalistic.

The remnants of my crew, disciplined to the last, got down to work. The wounded were being cared for. All of them had relatively minor injuries - broken bones, bangs on the head - that sort of thing. Dan reported that he might be able to get us audio reception. He had found that although the lifeboat was in-op and heavily damaged, he might be able to salvage the locator beacon from it. That was good news. Erika reported that we were sealed in to Fire Control, Tactical and Navigation. She said we had no pressure suits and no airlock to use them with if we did. She informed me that we were maintaining cabin pressure and it seemed that we would do so indefinitely. Okay, that was sort of good news. At least it meant we were in no immediate danger. Donalson reported that according to his team's best estimate, we were air and heat critical. The recycler would last four months if we were frugal, but the heat would go about a day before the air scrubbers would be used up, two months from now.

Well, I tried to put a brave face on that report by saying that we would be rescued long before two months went by, but everyone knew it was bullshit. We had no idea where we were, or how far out we had been blasted, or which direction we were drifting. Odds were, we wouldn't ever be found. And, to be frank, it turned out that surviving for two months was, for most, a generous estimate.

A month and a half later, the space dementia set in and people started going mad. When things started to get violent and discipline crumbled, Dan, Erika and I, the last sane ones, barricaded ourselves in my ready room, located on the Tactical deck. The air soon began to get stale and the howls and cries of my insane crew died down. Then the heat failed and the temperature began to slowly drop. The three of us huddled together for warmth. They insisted that I be between them as we crawled into the emergency blankets in our underwear to facilitate heat transfer between us. We lay there cuddled together while we slowly froze and suffocated.

I don't know how long I had lain there. Erika and Dan were unconscious which I thought was for the best as the oxygen swiftly ran out. I knew hypoxia had set in when I began to hallucinate. I saw a bright light. 'This is it,' I thought to myself. 'I'm dead. I'm sorry, Miri. I love you and tell Brock I love him, too.'

Thinking of Miri influenced the hallucination because suddenly she was there. She was reaching out to me as if telling me not to go, but then everything went dark.
 
 
Epilogue
 
 
When I became aware again, I was warm. I was in a nice comfortable bed, and the air was sweet and pure. It smelled like Miri. Yup, I had to be in heaven. As my senses returned, I became aware of someone lying beside me. I stirred. Then someone moved.

"Valerie? Are you awake, baby?" a voice that must have been an angel asked. She must have been an angel cause she sounded just like my Miri.

My eyes fluttered open. I squinted a little because the light was too intense, but they soon adjusted and I saw the face of an angel above me.

"Hello," I said to her. "You must be an angel cause you are as beautiful as my Miri and she's not dead yet, at least I don't think so."

"I'm not dead yet, and neither are you, you goofball," she said to me. A moment later, her words penetrated my brain. I wasn't dead? We were rescued?

"Oh, Valerie," Miri said, collecting me in a bone crushing hug. "I thought I was too late. I thought I had lost you."

"Miri, I love you," I said happily.

"I love you too, Sweetness," she responded.

"How long have I been out," I asked. "How are Erika and Dan? Did any of the rest of the crew make it?"

"You've been in a coma brought on by hypoxia and hypothermia for a week," Miri said. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes, I am starving," I said, suddenly feeling my hollow belly, but I still didn't miss Miri's attempt at misdirection. "But what about Erika and Dan?"

"Honey, they saved your life," Miri said as her eyes shined with tears.

"Miri, HOW ARE THEY!" I demanded.

"I'm sorry, baby, they froze to death while they were keeping you warm," Miri said with a breaking voice.

I felt like I had been gut shot. I lay back in the bed and looked up at the ceiling as my eyes filled up with tears. The tears leaked out while I silently mourned for my dear friends.

"Guess who did survive, though?" she asked me in hopes of making me feel better.

"Who?" I asked.

"Your favorite redhead," Miri said smiling.

"No kidding? How? I saw her ship go up and take about a hundred TSN ships with it," I said.

"Well, it seems Yolanda decked her and stuffed Jesse in a life boat right before she detonated the reactors," Miri told me grinning. "You shoulda heard her cussing when we found her. I saw the recordings of the battle, from the Serendipity as well as the ones brought back by the survivors of the Liberator. You and Darius were awesome. The way the two of you coordinated your groups, out flanking TSN formations and catching them in the crossfire between you. It was incredible. You two were the right and left arm of justice out there. Do you even realize how many ships the TSN sent against you?"

"You know, come to think about it, what are you doing here?" I asked. "Not that I'm not glad, but we lost. The TSN is still out there."

"Nu uh, Dearheart," Miri smiled. "Actually, the battle was a draw thanks to the heroism and sacrifice of the Zone fleet. However, the TSN sent 1500 ships against you. 1500! And you all fought them to the last ship. Both fleets were utterly destroyed, but here's the best part. The TSN didn't want to commit that many ships. They had to spread their fleet too thin on the front where the Resistance was fighting. But the Terran Government was so terrified of your fleet and the damage it was causing, they ordered the TSN to pull ships in from the blockade and the Resistance front. Once they did that, the Resistance rolled right over them. Systems are falling left and right. The TSN is nowhere to be found aside from some token resistance. Word is they have pulled back and consolidated their fleet around the Terran system. As soon as we rebuild the Zone Expeditionary Fleet, we are going to link up with the Resistance and open negotiations for the surrender of the Terran Government. If they refuse, we will go in and take them out."

There was still fighting to be done, but I was going home. I had fought my last battle and Miri, Brock, and I were seriously thinking about going on an extended visit with the Drandians. Diversity finally got me into the public eye when they asked me to preside over the memorial service given for all the heroic men and women that died in the clash between our fleets. It was an emotional service for me. I lost a lot of friends in that battle. I was going to be all right, though. I had Miri and Brock and that's all I ever really needed.

Happy news! In 4 months I am due with Brock's sister. My baby, her name will be Erika, seems to be developing fine. Miri and I plan to have two more, one per each of us with Brian and Dan's DNA. They had planned to ask us to carry their children, but events had conspired against it. Dan left this all in a note to me, along with the location and authorization to use their genetic material, delivered to me by his attorney when I arrived home.

I looked down at Miri, sleeping with her head in my lap, pillowed against my gravid and hugely distended belly. Goddess, I love her. I marvel at how beautiful she is every time I look at her - especially when she is sleeping. She looks so sweet and innocent, dontcha think?

-=^=-
 
The End
 
We are beautiful,
In every single way,
Words can't bring us down...

-=^=-