| A soft wave of sleek blonde hair flared and swayed as Admiral Dorothy Catalonia turned smartly on her heel.
�Give me visual,� she said calmly to the comm. officer. The young man hurriedly bent over his control panel to comply with the order. A few seconds later wild gray hair, a sharp nose, and large gray eyes that could only just suppress the mania behind them consumed the ship�s front view screen. Dorothy moved only the few facial muscles required to lift one of her thin, forked eyebrows. �I�m surprised you have the courage to continue on a ship after that last battle, Catalonia. I would have expected you to have a good cry and stay firmly planted on the first planet you could find.� Dorothy let her second eyebrow join the first at the edges of the few short wisps of hair that framed her forehead. He was as crazy as her crew thought if he expected such a juvenile remark to elicit more of a response. She stared at the screen with silent patience waiting for him to express the purpose of the transmission. �Nothing to say? I must have hit too close to home with that comment. I hope you haven�t used up all your tissues.� Dorothy did not even dignify that with an eyebrow twitch. She privately believed her eyebrows to be her best feature, and he had seen quite enough of their glorious nuances for one day. Besides, he was obviously on weak footing. If he were really attempting to provoke her into another battle he would not have used this tactic. He wanted something, probably another chance to force her into discussing a treaty. He would not get that today. However badly the last battle had gone for her, Dorothy�s forces were far from beaten. Most of her own allies were not sure whether or not she had lost the battle on purpose. He was certainly not in a position to make demands, or even requests. She decided to give him another 30 seconds to get to the point. �I hope you have someone to comfort you. I�d hate to think of you hurt and crying all by yourself �commander� An extremely keen observer might have noticed a muscle twitch in Dorothy�s jaw. She decided that 30 seconds was too long. Schooling her features into a bored expression, she walked over to a control panel and cut off the communication. The crewmen currently on the bridge stared at the starscape where the face of their enemy�s ruler had been. No one breathed. None of them had seen Admiral Catalonia when angry, but neither would they have imagined that someone would dare to speak to her in such a way. They had all heard the rumors, after all. But the Admiral merely turned back towards the exit with an uninterested expression. It made them proud that she would not stoop to such bait. It was one of the many ways in which she outshone her predecessor. �Captain Picot, you have the bridge. I will�� A dull thud followed by a slight tremor in the floor cut her off. Before anyone could speculate as to its cause the bridge lights dimmed to be replaced by a soft red glow and the incessant pulse of an alarm. �Visual!� Dorothy demanded over the noise. Her well-trained, battle-hardened crew didn�t bat an eye at the red alert and she had an immediate view of just exactly what had caused that thud. Shit! He�s attacking NOW?! How could he possibly have the manpower? She�d been so careful to impede him until she was ready to fight. Shit shit shit! Carefully preserving her outward calm, Admiral Catalonia set her jaw and furrowed her magnificent eyebrows at the oncoming forces. Zaibach would not get away with this. * * * Dilandau Albatou smiled gleefully at the carnage into which he had crafted Dorothy�s fleet. The fact that his own forces were also floating amongst the wreckage with serene lifelessness did not appear to penetrate his pleasant reverie. She certainly had not expected this violence from him today. His smile broadened. She should have expected it. It was not so difficult to guess his courses of action if one tried. Nevertheless, he took no small amount of pride, not to mention amusement, from the fact that he could still surprise her. He could picture her dazed and speechless, her eyebrows lifted to form delicate arcs over eyes wide and clear and so blue� Dilandau blinked. That was a silly thing upon which to ruminate at this moment. Surprised she might have been, but not dazed or speechless. He knew better than to think that he could attack her flagship and expect anything but a properly swift, concise military response. Besides, it was best if he didn�t think on her eyes. There were other things to take care of now. �Dalleta!� �Lord?� The immediate response crackled into his ship from the comm. link in the Dragon Slayer�s melef. �Take a picture of that and send it to Gein� as a little holiday surprise from his former subordinate.� Dilandau�s grin broadened and his tone at once softened and began to drip venom. �I want him to understand just what he�s criticizing every time he closes himself in that room with Dornkirk.� |
| Midwinter Surprise |