Free Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone by Chris Kennedy Page B

other side of the gate.
    “Aye aye, sir!” said the duty engineer, seated next to the helmsman at the front console. He was responsible for all of the damage control systems. He turned on the General Quarters alarm. Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! sounded the bell. It was followed by the engineer’s call of “General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands man your battle stations!”
    “Helmsman, full speed ahead!” Captain Sheppard ordered. “Contact the Emperor’s Paw ,” he said, turning to the communications officer. “Let them know we’re making the jump. We’ll see them on the other side.”
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     

Chapter Five
     
    In the Presence of His Majesty, Drakon, COROT-7 System, December 20, 2020
    Captain Bullig walked down the empty stone chamber, hoping that neither his knees nor his bowels betrayed him. To bring the Overlord bad news was usually a death sentence. The Overlord didn’t just shoot the messenger; he usually ate him...piece by piece while what was left of the messenger was forced to watch.
    As Captain Bullig had narrowly escaped a similar fate his last time here, bringing bad news a second time was not what he wanted to do. That was why he had violated the Overlord’s orders and had gone into the Solar System; he had been hoping to find some good news that he could use to save his life. Violating the Overlord’s orders was similarly fatal, though, so it was a desperate gamble. He had known the deck was stacked against him, but it was his only chance.
    And it was the slimmest of chances.
    Only one thing scared Captain Bullig, and that was the Overlord. Fully 14 feet tall, with fangs that stuck out over four inches, he was covered in scars from all of his battles and fights to achieve supremacy. A veteran of over 200 duels, he had won every fight he had ever been in. He had also killed every opponent he had ever faced, usually by dismemberment; surrender was not an option.
    The greeting hall was empty, so the Overlord had obviously heard that Bullig was bringing bad news. It did no good for minions to hear bad news, so the Overlord cleared the hall when he knew it was coming. Bullig’s meter-long boots made slapping sounds that echoed loudly in the empty hall. Bullig had to cross 200 feet from the entryway to the platform that the Overlord’s throne sat on. He could feel the Overlord’s eyes on him the whole way. He knew not to look at the Overlord, as the Overlord had a habit of licking his lips as people approached with bad news. If he saw that, he would...he didn’t know what he’d do. Run? Cower? Beg? Wet himself? None of the options were particularly helpful. He very carefully looked at the Overlord’s feet, which wasn’t hard as the platform that held the Overlord’s throne was nine feet high. The better to overawe his subjects...as if that was needed.
    He marched up to within 20 feet, then got down on his knees for the next 10 feet, and then on his stomach the last 10 feet. Without looking up, he played his one card. “I have come from the Ross 154 system, and I bring you good news, your honorable majestic graciousness!”
    “Good news?” the Overlord asked in a booming voice that echoed in the hall. “I was told that you brought bad news. I heard that our fleet there was destroyed, and that you violated my orders.”
    Bullig wasn’t surprised that someone from his crew had sold him out. When one of the Overlord’s enforcers pulled you aside to ‘ask you a few questions,’ you told them everything you knew. Bullig was dead if his plan didn’t work.
    “As far as the fleet being destroyed,” he said in as strong a voice as he could muster while lying on his stomach, “that much is true. The exploration force went through the stargate , and only half of the battleship Slayer came back through. It appears nearly all of them were killed.”
    “And you consider the loss of one of my battle groups to be good news?” asked the Overlord.
    “I do not consider their loss