Fangs in Space

Chapter 7: Mosquito

“She needs you there and she needs you to be publicly submissive and on good terms with her. Do you understand?”

I nodded.

She was silent for a while, and in deep thought.

“Kieran, I give you permission to court her, although I doubt that she would be receptive to that now. I agree with you that the best way out of this mess is a marriage between you two, but I am afraid the chances of that are very slim.”

I was baffled. The Queen actually supported me in my attentions towards her daughter. She trusted me with the future crown. This was massive.

“Regarding the mission, the first battle cruiser is finished in five weeks from now.

Gerald has been overseeing the space program. Contact him to find out how the fleet is developing and inform Zea of its progress and due date. We have inside information about the planetary location of Roke, and its layout and vital positions. Magnus and Zea are making battle plans as we speak, Magnus will contact you ASAP about your role. Zea is recruiting crew and you will be her second in command and in charge of the supplies. Contact Gerald about the inventory. Keep Zea up to date about all your actions.”

I nodded.

“Gerald should be awaiting you outside to show you round the hangars, and discuss the supplies with you. He will give you information on how to keep in contact with the others.”

She dismissed me and I took my leave.

-----------***-----------

Gerald was indeed waiting for me outside the throne room. He showed me his car and we drove about an hour before we reached the border of the desert.

A huge complex was brightly illuminated against the dark red sky, revealing five enormous copper coloured hangars with the Royal Coat of Arms (two snakes biting each others tails positioned in the infinity symbol) above the huge doors.

He parked the car at the side of the buildings and we got out. Everything looked brand new. The walls were free of the sand damage that the desert storms normally do to the buildings in this area. The complex could not be older than a few months.

We walked inside and after a few security check-ups and polite acquaintances with the ground personnel and the pilots I got to see the ships.

They were not what I had expected.

I turned to glance at Gerald.

“Uhm…They look like insects?” I commented questioningly.

That is, shiny gold metallic mosquitoes sitting back on their rear.

Gerald nodded enthusiastically. “The wings in combination with the rocket propulsion in the rear allows them to manoeuvre effortlessly in both space and atmosphere.”

“These are the fighter jets; or as we like to call them the AFDs: Agile, Fast and Deadly. The crafts are too small to fit in the hyper jump engines, so they need to be transported by the bigger battleships.” He explained.

I walked over to the one nearest to us and touched its metallic surface. Quickly I pulled back my hand.

Its surface felt soft and warm.

I looked surprised at Gerald, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“They are hybrids; half metal half organic. In other words, they are alive.” He grinned.

“Are they sentient?” I asked.

Gerald nodded, “Yes, and the pilot has a brain interface with the ship. The ship’s systems use both the pilot’s and its own neural pathways for its calculations.”