Serpent Wars

By Thomas Davis

Tesha was still smiling when she ran head first into a hidden barrier defense. The shock and abrupt stop nearly knocked her senseless, but she managed to roll past it and protect what was left of consciousness. She kicked herself mentally for falling for such an obvious ploy. But, she dimly realized that there was no reason to believe there would be any enemy resistance to her passage at this point.
She'd gone miles without a sighting closer than a few hundred yards. Why was there such a concentration of Session warriors at this point in the border crossing?
There was no time for further consideration. She could feel them all around her. They were all male. Few Session female warriors had ever existed. She knew many of them had neither seen or heard of her. But, they would recognize her heavy bone structure and enhanced muscular structure.
She feigned unconsciousness and felt a sudden desire to just let her body go. But, her will overcame her weakness and she waited until they all gathered to observe her in her apparent helplessness. There was much whispered amazement as they realized they were staring at a once in a lifetime phenomena. Few warrior females were ever born and fewer still made it to maturity because of the very nature of the genetics involved in creating a warrior race.
Most were bred of normal Session females. But, a few like General Toskin were the product of a male and female warrior cross.
"She should be hospitalized and protected," Cressia spoke in an admiring voice. He was a young lieutenant in Morgan's new military force and a recent recruit from one of the recently acquired council territories.
"You are letting your physical needs override your common sense." Mariss spoke condescendingly. He was an older blocky figure and a ranking Colonel in Morgan's army.
Tesha picked this moment to moan and began to shriek at the pain in her head. Cressia went to her side immediately and bent down to examine her.
Her eyes locked on his and she pulled him down to her.
Mariss screamed a warning and aimed a blow at Cressia's head, but he was too late.
The young warrior was too naive and susceptible to this female's talents. In one instant he had been turned into a killing machine intent on protecting his mate. The dose of pheromones he had received would make him the equal of even the most seasoned session warrior.
Mariss was dead the moment he attacked. Cressia struck him in the neck with a stiletto hand that tore his jugular out and followed it with a kick that caved in his forehead.
Tesha smiled thinly as she began to drag herself to safety. Cressia continued to hold her adversaries at bay and protected her back. He would die protecting her and she felt a small pang of regret. He had been the only one sympathetic to her plight.
She watched as he took down the second enemy and marveled at his ability as she regained her feet and began to run. She wasn't as fast, but if Cressia could hold her adversaries for a few minutes, she would be able to escape.
But, the apparition before her wasn't going to let her pass. His toothy grin showed pointed jagged teeth that could be used for tearing meat. As she approached him she saw him spit and hold up a tube shaped object. It had to be a weapon and she rolled as it fired, screaming Cressia's name.
The apparition was stunned momentarily by her scream, but turned in time to fire at a furious Cressia unstoppable by the drugs flowing throughout his body. The weapon slowed him down, but it didn't stop him.
Eight warriors were on his heels pursuing him, but they weren't fast enough to overtake him. His right foot centered on the face of the unbelievable caricature and Cressia felt the entity fall...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Davis
• Release date: May 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301330621

Thomas Davis

Thomas W. Davis has a great love for science fiction of all kinds and has a BA in Biology and BS in Software Engineering. Possibilities abound in this world and the next. What changes might we see and how will we use them to make our world a better place. That is really the question that peaks his interest in all that is in this world and the next. If you believe we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg here, then our story will continue unabated in life everlasting in the next world. He has written two novels and three short stories with much more to follow in the near future. Check back often and let us know what you love and hate about the characters we develop. Where do you think our world is headed? Discover other titles coming soon by Thomas W Davis at Smashwords.com: Serpent Wars (Sequel to Father Once Glimpsed) GeneDoub Lifeform The Internet Flash in the Pan Godless Plague OrganPlnt Tabatha Check us out at Facebook, Twitter, and our promotional website at http://www.webnarc.com for the latest news and projects on the near horizon. Email us at : [e-mail] with ideas and science interests you would like to share.

Book preview

Chapter 1:Contact

A Session warrior strikes at the Morgan forces and is revealed for the first time to be the only known Session female of warrior class on the planet. Her formidable physcial strength and command over her Session male adversaries prompts an alien being to mount a global search to recover her.

Chapter 2:Capture

Tesha is captured and held in stasis until a crisis causes the Sidonese people to preserve and duplicate her thousands and perhaps millions of times.

Draco admires her new body and strength and finds himself in love for the first time in five hundred years.

After Tesha’s conversion Draco finds himself irresistably drawn to her, and finds his life wrenched from him while in the throes of ecstasy.

Chapter 3:Angel of Death

Meira is told that her husband Draco has died of a heart attack. In disbelief, she demands all witnesses and possible suspects be interrogated.

When she sees the body of her husband, she collapses, then recovers enough to remove a miniature storage device from his neck.

From it she views the last moments of his life, though the mechanism for his death is unclear.

Chapter 4:Interrogation

Talco found the interrogation of Tesha very pleasant, and finds himself seduced by her feminine charms. Meira is incensed with rage and sends Jinco his brother to kill Tesha and rescue his brother Talco.

Meanwhile Minca the commander of the Sidonese command center observes as Br Morgan troops attack the pilgrimage site of Nara, and are slaughtered by two Session warriors armed with high technology pbw weapons.

In a rage he contacts Minca for help and is told that Draco was recalled by the council. It is now that Morgan is informed that his old adversaries Merrick and his son SAI are the two Session warriors, and one is a machine.

Chapter 5: The Nara Defense

BR Morgan has attempted to attack a virtually defenseless city, and against the rules of convention. When he returns, Merrick and SAI are sure he will have weapons supplied by the alien forces. Desperate they decide to train and arm civilians to defend the Nara burrough.

Meira is incensed at the escape of Tesha and Segara her doctor. Against the rules of direct interference in less advanced species affairs, she authorizes the dispatch of an airship to recover the two escapees on the Sessia surface.

Tesha and Segara are caught in a paralyses field beamed in a circle around their last known positions.

Morgan interrupts Minca with the news that his Sidonese wife is pregant with child, and that the birth should cement their relationship. But, he realizes later that the child represents a personal threat to his position, when Minca suggests he be given off planet coaching in Sidonese ways.

Chapter 6:The Nara Challenge

Tesha and Segara are rescued by SAI and the Sidonese airship is severely damaged.

Merck is severely disciplined, then given a chance to redeem himself, and assigned the job of destroying the Nara burrough.

Meira finds her future mate, Talco, alive and has him hospitalized. As he recovers she smothers him with her love and suddenly realizes that he has been assassinated by an unknown force.

Chapter 7: The Assault

Meira is unsure of her own security forces and seeks the shelter and security of the command center. Minca offers the same contract that he had with her late husband, but the reward to his command is now a starship.

As the attack on the Nara burrough begins, SAI remains behind and patches the control of the pbw weapons through his console. In the assault he realizes that the enemy ships are vulnerable at the time that their weapons are used and is able to cripple and then destroy one of the impregnable airships. The resulting crash and explosion destroys the Nara burrough and may destroy SAI.

Chapter 8: Suicide

Merck watches helplessly as one of his ships is destroyed, but is able to find the hidden believers and capture a hostage. It is with unconcealed rage that he witnesses their suicide and the destruction of a thousand seasoned troops in their underground chamber.

Tesha and Merrick lead the majority of the believers toward the Marin gate. It is on this trek that she shares her story of capture, death and resurrection by the Sidonese. He feels her pain and her anguish and they begin to share a bond.

Chapter 9: Silent Death

Renson interrogates the captive Leisha and is rewarded with the information that Tesha and Segara are headed toward the Marin gate.

Merck devises a plan to recover Segara and Tesha without causing a permanent rift between the Sidonese and the Marinese people.

Merrick and Tesha find their way blocked by Morgan troops and manage to clear a path through, only to be overtaken by Sidon ships firing paralyzing beams from the skies.

Chapter 10: Re-united

Merck goes berserk and terrorizes his captive Segara, only to be stunned and put in stasis by his first officer. Renson makes his bid for Merck’s position and status and his men are finally able to return home without further incompetent loss of life.

Tesha and Merrick find each other as survivors in the Marin greyness that surrounds the Marin gate.

Minca brings the news of Segara’s capture to Meira, only to find that the position as second to the prime minister has been taken by Jinco.

Chapter 11: The Marin Trek

Merrick and Tesha are overtaken by Morgan troops that surprise them on their trek through the grayness.

Segara reveals the exact nature of the mechanism that killed Meira’s husband, Draco. But, unwilling to do Meira’s bidding, she becomes a victim as well.

Chapter 12: The New Assasin

The Marin people come to the aid of Tesha and Merrick, and reveal a diabolical plan to speed up their genetic developement. Merrick becomes confused about the difference between their enemies the Sidonese and their Marinese friends. The implication is that the Sidonese people hold technological blackmail over the Marinese people.

Draco reappears to haunt Meira and Jinco, his newly cloned and resurrected body genetically engineered to take advantage of the Session advances in physical speed and stamina.

Merck his mind altered and programmed by a Minca intent on the prime minister’s position, is sent to kill Jinco and then Meira.

Chapter 13: Life and Death

Merrick and Tesha begin the preparations for winning their world back from the Sidonese.

SAI contacts the Marin, Shunee, and resurrects himself from the rubble and materials he is supplied. He is presumed to be a new lifeform and slowly reveals himself as superior to the Marinese in many ways.

Draco hides Meira and Jinco in his hardsite and goes after the murderous Minca on his own. He manages to force him from the command center hardsite, and confront him with a paralyzer, only to be killed by Minca’s command center troops.

Chapter 14: A New Son

Merrick meets the newly resurrected SAI and realizes his son may be the key to Marin technology and resources.

Jinco and Meira witness the death of Draco and see his dying carcass transported directly to their hardsite. Initially he is put in a regenerator, but then the hate and oppression of years of life hit his former mate, and she and Jinco eject the carcass from its womb.

The dying Draco rises from his deathbed to train a weapon on them both, and Jinco’s weapon and his discharge simultaneously.

Chapter 15: Betrayal

SAI meets one piece in the puzzle that Merrick is assembling for the Sidonese people. A portable with Tesha’s imprint.

Jinco recovers to find himself and his Mistress alive. He wonders at the luck that is with them, when he finds the drained weapon in Draco’s hand. The stress of the moment, and the relief at being alive drives them to passionate love and Jinco realizes that she really is his. The dream continues.

Minca is whisked aboard one of the warships and given medical attention. He survives only to come to the realization that Draco may not be truly dead, and may in fact have been one of many clones. An unknown threat seems to identify him as an expendable liability, no longer necessary.

Chapter 16: The Marinese Alliance

Merrick reveals his plan to Tesha and they decide to take the information to his son SAI. But, first they share a tender moment of love before going into battle. Was it a Session survival instinct? They didn’t know, or care.

SAI negotiates a contract with Minca for the secret of the Sidonese immortality. In exchange he becomes the beneficiary of information from both advanced races. The Alliance stands to end the exploitation of the Session world and put it on the galactic map as the centerpoint of a galactic trade wheel.

Fasha meets Meira and reveals her pregnancy to her prime minister, cementing the beneficial relationship to her leader. BR Morgan has mysteriously disappeared.

Chapter 17: The Virus Link

Merrick finally reveals his entire plan to Tesha and they are on their way to celebrate with SAI, when she tests his response to having the baby within her.

SAI pressures Minca for the information that he has promised and realizes that he doesn’t really possess the knowledge. He only knows of its possible location. Minca and his men are set to assault the starship, and bring the information and resources back with them.

Merricks chips have been distributed far and wide and have begun replicating and producing the communication network that will make their information available to all. Soon the vast storehouse of Sidonese knowledge will be available to all. And their strangle hold on the Session world will be broken.

Chapter 18: The Marin Threat

SAI realizes that his father has devised a way to destroy the Marin people, whom he now believes to be enemies. He searches his vast sources for information that will help him prevent the destruction.

Tarin, Minca’s new first officer is assigned the task of the starship invasion, and successfully penetrates the hidden hardsite, revealing a hidden room and several regeneration pods.

Jinco reacts to the attack by taking the surprised Meira to his personal hardsite. He devises a plan to destroy the vulnerable Session warships under Minca’s control and puts it into action with Meira’s blessing.

Chapter 19: The Serpent

The starship is revealed to be a living entity and protects its charge, the genetic material of Draco, by killing the Sidonese intent on sending the information and equipment to Minca’s warship.

Merrick and Tesha await the destruction of the Marin gate a full ten miles out from the mountain. Merrick sheds tears of despair when he realizes that SAI has not escaped a death he engineered, but he is reminded of his new life with Tesha and a yet to be born infant.

SAI sets up a direct link with the core of the starship and contacts a being so old, and so evil, it could only be the devil himself. Revealed as the universal evil one, SAI finds out that the entity visits all systems in anticipation of bleeding them of their genetic heritage and their drive to conquer the stars.

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The Serpent Struggle

by T. W. Davis

Chapter 1: Contact

The silence of the mid morning was uncanny even in this desert like environment. A survey of the land ahead showed absolutely no movement, no life, nothing that would have drawn attention to the full regiment of Sessions that were hiding there.

For those with the correct training and the discipline for survival, it was a game that was played until one side made a critical error. A sound or a movement that was picked up that let the adversary know your position could mean instant death.

Tesha could play the game with the patience of the best. She had never been beaten, never been bested by any Session warrior. Only the technology of an alien race had been able to track her and catch her. But that nightmare seemed a long time past. What mattered, now was getting back to her people with the news that she carried.

Sweat trickled down her face and sand covered her body and still she remained motionless. Her ears were alert to any change in the environment around her. As the sun beat down on her a quick glance would show her indistinguishable from the surrounding sand. She took the heat and the pain as she had been trained to do. She took it with the knowledge that she was in enemy territory and at a disadvantage in shear numbers and armament.

Her passive equipment picked up the scan that searched the area around her. The enemy had picked her up initially as a heat source anomaly. She had not given them time to confirm it or her location before she had gone into hiding. She had become like the ground around her and gave off a heat signature and silhouette that matched the gently rolling surface.

She pinpointed the source of the scan and waited impassively as they approached. She had been right in her initial assessment. This group appeared to be part of the main body of the regiment that was now on the move. Either they were overconfident in the strength of numbers, or just stupid. They had no point scouts to serve as decoys to flush out the enemy. They risked their entire force with little regard for the possible forces that opposed them. Her fury began to mount when she realized the reason they advanced so overconfidently.

The direction they were headed pointed to the Nara burrough. They all appeared to be on foot, confirming the information she had been given from the Marin people. All BR Morgan skimmers and airships had been destroyed. Though intelligence sources also predicted a massive buildup in their manufacturing facilities. It wouldn't be long before the Session Military would again be in the skies.

The civil war that had engulfed the Session people could be traced to one Session leader who had managed to break a two hundred year peace in order to unite a world under his control. It was a classic story of one high technology group supplying a less fortunate group with advanced weapons. That proved to be the catalyst that upset a delicate balance in a warrior people barely comfortable with the peaceful coexistence.

Sessions had always lived to fight and make war. It had been the pattern of the warrior bands for many hundreds of years until the enlightenment, and then wars had been isolated and quickly extinguished, until a world council of ten had been formed. Peace had graced their world for two hundred years and technology and Session knowledge had been driven forward at exponential rates. But, that was before the Great War. The war that had decimated a population approaching ten billion people.

Particle beam weapons had proven to be even more devastating than the nuclear weapons of the past, because they were clean. They did not destroy the environment beyond the area of their target and yet their destruction was total and irreversible.

Tesha checked her barrier defense and then waited as they marched past her position. It would take a Session stumbling directly onto her position to reveal her location, now that they were on the move. She had placed her barrier outside the normal traveled paths and slightly up a rock outcropping, where she could see the surrounding territory easily and spot any approaching adversary.

As the last of the stragglers passed her position she made a quick calculated decision and pounced on the last male to round her post. For just a second she debated killing him or rendering him immobile until she could interrogate him. She decided on the latter and held a paralyzer to his head. He dropped to the ground instantly, and she returned to her barrier field while she waited to see if anyone else approached behind him.

She waited until she couldn't sense his comrades in scanner range and went out to drag him inside the barrier. He was still out, but she could tell that the paralysis was beginning to wear off.

It took her a couple of minutes to drag him into her confined space, where she took a few minutes to assess her hostage. He wore no insignia on his uniform that identified his rank. A careful check of his pockets turned up nothing that was of use. He could be a lowly Class 1 or a budding General in the Session Military, although she thought he would have had more of an entourage if that were the case.

She had almost decided to end his forced silence, when she noticed the package taped to his stomach. It was a small portfolio case. It had BR Morgan's seal on it. She forced the locked clasp open and read the contents in a brief hurried rush. It was a letter of introduction and included a small identification disk with it. The disk identified this Session warrior as Rensian and introduced him as Morgan's new second in command.

Tesha could feel her heart begin to pound. This was a coincidence for which she was unprepared. Alive he could be a very valuable source of intelligence information. But, she couldn't expect to be able to take him with her. She could kill him, but he would be replaced and the opportunity to play this advantage might be gone.

She could interrogate him herself, but his men would be looking for him soon. She might be trapped here with no logical exit. For a moment she thought over her alternatives and then she began her dance. It was a dance all Session females had been taught since birth. No normal Session male in his prime could resist it, nor would they try.

Rensian was paralyzed, but his body began to respond subconsciously to her dance and her release of pheremones. The heady airborne drug was more powerful than the paralyzer she still held in her hand, and his eyes opened unseeing, while his body responded to her undulations. He found himself awake and gripped by a vise he was powerless to shake.

It was then that he felt the sting and an intense pleasure that could not be described. Her whispered voice invaded his mind and he found himself speaking to her helplessly. He answered every question to the best of his ability, and with every answer the pleasure increased. Never had he been exposed to such raw physical and emotional power. He continued to talk and he continued to please her, and she rewarded him.

Finally, the things he said about their current operation began to repeat themselves and the intensity of the pleasure and the pain climaxed. He could see her face then. She was beautiful, but her expression was of hideous controlled hate. At the point where every nerve in his body seemed to respond to her, he felt the final sting, the blow that ended his life and he began to spasm uncontrollably beneath her.

In ancient times a female Session was known to kill her mate after fertilization, and eat him for sustenance. For a brief instant Rensian wondered at his fate and then the light went out of his eyes.

Tesha looked around trying to regain her composure and think like a warrior. She knew she had taken