“As long as it ends with us returning back to GC territory safely, I’m happy.”
Howard shot a nervous glance around the bridge, then started picking at the grime on his hands.
“Okay, fine.” Dani sighed. “Let’s hear it.”
“There is some leftover egniorium, thanks to Jag and his tendency to bite off more than he can chew. It’s not a lot, but it’ll get us closer to home.”
Dani raised a brow. “That’s good news. What’s the catch?”
“Well, the jump drive is about fifty percent more likely to explode.”
Dani rubbed her palm across her forehead. “Sounds like we can choose between trying to tiptoe our way through or jumping and hoping we don’t blow ourselves to smithereens.”
Her thoughts were interrupted as Cruz placed a road hand on Dani’s shoulder, causing her to remove her hand from her face. “He’s awake.”
“Z, watch the bridge. Make sure we don’t break orbit or attract the attention of any Vaerian ships. I’ll be right back.”
Dani hurried down the hall into Jag’s quarters with Cruz on her heels. Sylvine was at his bedside, checking his wound. “Do you two mind if we have a moment?” Dani asked, nodding toward the door.
Cruz nodded and beckoned Sylvine to follow him.
Dani exhaled loudly as she took the seat next to Jag’s bed. “Hanging in there?”
“I think so,” he mumbled through a weak smile and half-closed eyes. “What’s going on out there?”
“Oh, you don’t worry about that, Jag. I’ve got it all under control.”
“Dani...” Jag warned with a glare.
Dani was surprised he had the strength to muster up such a stink eye in his current state. “We’re in Vaerian territory, on the wrong side of the armada. We’re cloaked, but we obviously can’t stay here forever. Especially with us in this shape, I’m not sure how long the medicine will last.”
“What are our options?”
“Well the first jump was pretty rough. We could do another, but it’d be risky. The other choice is to get as far as we can while we’re cloaked. If we can’t get past the armada, we can try a hop, but that won’t get us out of their reach.”
Jag winced as he shifted in his bed. The blanket fell away, and Dani could see that the purple was spreading further, the tendrils reaching up toward his abdomen.
“I’m going to tell Cruz to save the rest of the medicine for you. Your injury is much worse than mine.”
Jag shook his head. “No, if anything, you should take the rest. The crew needs you. And I think you should go with the second option. Stay cloaked and get as far as you can. Then we’ll figure it out when we get to the armada. It’s safer than trying to jump from here. If we fail, then we’re going to attract a whole lot of unwanted attention.”
“Jag.” Dani started and leaned in to take his hand. “If we do that, it’s going to take much longer. Have you seen your leg?”
“Hey.” He gave her hand a little squeeze. “It’s okay, really. You know it’s the best option for the crew. If I weren’t sick, you wouldn’t even be arguing with yourself right now. I’ll be fine. Now get out there and get a move on.”
Dani stared at Jag for a moment, not wanting to leave him in this condition. “I’ll send Sylvine back to keep an eye on you.”
He nodded and closed his eyes, his grip loosening on her hand.
Dani took his hand and placed it at his side, lingering to watch him breathe, terrified he would stop again at any moment. She eventually had to drag herself from the room and back to the bridge with a lump in her throat.
“Sylvine, please stay with Jag. Keep an eye on him,” she said, gesturing back down the hall.
Sylvine nodded and left the bridge, looking relieved to get away from Carl, who was sitting on the floor a few feet away, staring at her and twitching his tail.
“We’re going to stay cloaked and see if we can safely navigate back to GC territory,” Dani said as she took her seat and ran through the system checks.
“But, Jag...” Cassia started.
“I know,” Dani mumbled quietly. “Everything’s in order. Let’s get out of here.”
Dani navigated Osirion away from the moon and along the course Cruz had plotted in the navigation system. She took a deep breath, relieved to be putting more distance between the Vaerian warship and themselves, but couldn’t help but wonder what awaited them when they reached the armada.
“Dani!” Cassia’s voice urgently called out. Even Carl retreated into the space near Cassia’s feet at her station.
The sensors lit up red, indicating an incoming energy burst. “Hold on!” Dani hollered as she quickly strapped herself into her seat. Osirion shuddered, and the power flickered throughout the bridge. “What was that?”
“The Vaerian war ship... it’s—” Cassia stammered.
“It’s gone!” Dani finished her thought.
The space the Vaerian warship had occupied was now a mess of debris radiating outward at considerable speed. The crew stared in awe of the utter annihilation of the massive, armored vessel. Even under heavy fire, they didn’t just burst apart like that.
“It must have blown up from the inside,” Dani muttered as she stared at the screen.
Sylvine ran back into the bridge and gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth.
Ding, ding, ding.
The incessant ringing and clanging coming from Cruz’s station finally pulled her attention as he frantically signed, “Cloaking is down!”
“What?” Dani dove into her console and brought up the cloaking mechanism, desperately trying to activate it again. “Shit, the explosion must have damaged it. Howard, can we jump?”
“We can in a minute!” Howard sprinted out of the room, making good time for his size and age.
“Incoming Vaerian battleship. They’re charging weapons,” Cassia announced.
“Evasive maneuvers! Cruz, I need you on weapons!”
“Incoming transmission.”
“Half-screen, please, Cassia.”
The face of a high-ranking Vaerian appeared on the screen—and he didn’t look happy. Every breath he took echoed throughout the bridge as he stared down Dani and her crew. The slits on his neck were done in a way Dani had never seen. Commanders typically had three slits on either side of their neck. This Vaerian had eight, six horizontal and two vertical. His horns were also much more prominent than Dani had ever seen. The translation of their alien language rolled across the bottom of the screen.
Your presence is a direct violation of the current cease-fire between the Vaerian Nation and the Galactic Conglomerate. Furthermore, your attack on our craft where peaceful negotiations were being conducted shows a total disregard for the diplomatic process. As a result, your ship shall now be destroyed.
“Whoa, hang on, we didn’t attack anyone! We are actually here by mistake and trying to get home,” Dani tried to explain.
The Vaerian snorted before continuing on.
Your trespass alone is an act of war.
Then he blipped off the screen while Dani sat and quickly diverted full power to their shields. “Cruz, don’t fire, there’s no way we can take that ship out. We’re outgunned.”
Howard huffed and puffed back into the bridge. “It’s... ready... to go.”
Osirion shook as a blast from the battleship struck their shields, the energy spidering out from the initial point of contact as it dispersed across the shields. Howard stumbled in front of his station, but managed to crawl up and clip into his harness.
“Powering jump drive!” Dani shouted as another burst from the Vaerian weapons shook Osirion. “Sylvine, Cruz’s station, now!”
Dani wasn’t sure if Sylvine understood her command, so she frantically pointed at Cruz’s unoccupied seat, and that seemed to get her point across, because Sylvine scrambled over to the seat.
Osirion jerked and tossed, the power flickering once more and alarms sounding. Dani and her crew were thrown back in their sea
ts, then forward again in what felt like the absolute worst carnival ride of all time. Dani was actually thankful that she hadn’t eaten anything in quite some time; otherwise she was sure she’d be wearing it.
She clung to the arms of her chair like Carl clung to Cassia’s lap, judging by Carl’s hissing and Cassia’s cries of pain. Dani could only hope that Jag was holding up in the back. The shaking intensified, and the lights and consoles in the bridge went out as the inertia threw them forward abruptly against the harnesses in their seats.
“Is it over?” Zadria’s shaky voice sounded from across the bridge as the lights began to flicker on. The poor girl gripped her tablet to her chest, looking quite frazzled.
“I’m not sure. Cruz, as soon as systems are up, can you please figure out where we are?”
The absence of the bell’s ding drew Dani’s gaze toward Cruz. The somber expression on his face as he stared at the screen said it all.
“You already know, don’t you?”
Cruz nodded slowly before turning to face Dani. “We’re in the Dead Zone.”
To Be Continued …
The Dead Zone
Ardent Redux Saga:
Episode 4
By
J.L. Stowers
Copyright © 2018 by J. L. Stowers
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Edition, 2018
Editing: Keri Karandrakis
Cover Art: Tiffany at Dark Matter Book Covers
Visit the author’s website at www.jlstowers.com
Dedication
For my fans.
I appreciate your support more than you realize.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 1
Captain Dani Devereaux’s heart caught in her throat and she was unable to speak. “The Dead Zone? You’re sure?” she signed back to Daemon Cruz.
His slow nod and pursed lips confirmed her fear.
“We didn’t make it?” Cassia Simpkins quivered in her seat, Carl nuzzling her chin.
“Wait, what do you mean we didn’t make it?” Zadria Swift asked, her eyes wild with fear.
Dani gulped and made a wild grab for her composure. While she and Cruz knew about this territory, it made sense that the others didn’t. It wasn’t something they taught at the academy since many people viewed the surrender of this section of space as a failure on the Galactic Conglomerate’s part.
“The Dead Zone is an empty stretch of space between Vaerian territory and the armada. The GC let them have it because there’s practically nothing here. There are no stars, no planets, just empty space with a few stray asteroids and the occasional comet.” Dani sighed as she waited for the ship’s systems to finish booting up. “I’m going to go check on Jag. Sylvine, Cruz, can you give me a hand? Cassia, when the systems are back up, please run a full diagnostic. Maybe we can figure out why our cloaking went out.”
Dani, Sylvine, and Cruz left the bridge and made their way to Jag’s room. They entered to find Jag splayed out face-down on the floor in a puddle of blood. Dani gasped, and the three of them hurried to his side. After Cruz performed a preliminary check, they turned him over.
A deep gash along Jag’s hairline poured blood. Cruz gestured for Dani to hand him a nearby towel. After she did, he applied pressure to the wound while Dani watched, mouth agape. In addition to the deep gash, Jag’s eye was quite swollen. Cruz took Dani’s hand and placed it over the towel on Jag’s head wound while he examined Jag’s pupils.
“There’s so much blood,” Dani mumbled quietly.
“Head wounds tend to bleed a lot. Looks like he hit the corner of his nightstand,” Cruz signed before continuing with his examination.
Cruz frowned and opened his medical kit. “I’m going to need to clean the wound and stitch him up.”
Dani nodded, looking away. She could handle a lot of things, but seeing Jag get hurt yet again was starting to wear on her. Instead, she focused her attention on looking around the room while Cruz took care of the gash.
Medical supplies and Jag’s belongings were strewn about the room. Cabinets and drawers were opened and their contents noticeably disheveled. No doubt the rest of the ship was in just as much disarray after their last violent attempt at fleeing Vaerian territory.
As soon as she was no longer needed, Dani began scooping up the scattered supplies. Sylvine joined her, and Dani thanked her with a smile. The warrior woman was still quite the mystery to the crew. Cassia was working on a linguistic program, but there was still a long way to go before it would translate with the standard ninety-eight percent accuracy. Dani longed to know more about her and why she was alone on the glowshard planet, but she knew she’d have to be patient.
As Dani placed the last of the contaminated supplies on the bedside tray, Cruz caught her eye and nodded to the door.
“Sylvine?” Dani asked, nodding to Jag.
Sylvine nodded in return, then righted the chair next to Jag’s bedside and seated herself while Dani and Cruz stepped into the hall.
“What is it?” she asked, not liking the worried look on Cruz’s face.
“He’s in bad shape.” Cruz paused before continuing. “If we want him to make it through this alive then I think we need to have Cassia send out a long-range message in hopes of reaching the Houston.”
“The problem being that the armada might pick it up,” Dani mumbled.
Cruz nodded. “Chances are, they might already know we’re here. We didn’t exactly make it out without being spotted.”
“You’re right.” Dani sighed and looked through the door at Jag again as Sylvine placed a cold compress on his head. She wanted to stay by his side and tend to him personally, but as captain, that just wasn’t an option. A lump started to form in her throat as she dwelled on the fact he might not make it—in fact, none of them might. “Alright, have Cassia send the long-range message. I’ll meet you on the bridge.”
Dani watched as Cruz made his way to the bridge before taking one last look at Jag. She hoped the care Cruz and Sylvine provided would continue to help him until they could get him to a medical facility.
Dani sighed and turned toward the kitchen. As she entered, her feet slipped out from under her and she hit the ground, hard. Temporarily dazed from the fall, she took a moment to get to her feet. She thought the kitchen might be a mess but didn’t expect to have any spills, as the containers should have been sealed. As she looked down at her hands, she realized, in horror, what she slipped on.
“No...” Dani scrambled over to the tipped pot lying on the floor. The lavender liquid was mostly gone, spread out across the kitchen floor. Dani quickly picked the pot up, looking inside to find that very little of Sylvine’s medicine remained. “Shit.”
Dani slammed the pot down on the counter and grabbed the lid to examine it as Howard walked into the room.
“What happened?” He asked as he stared, wide-eyed at the mess.
Dani shook her head slowly. “I guess the pot fell and the clasp on the lid must have snapped.” She threw the lid into the sink and leaned on the counter, resting on her elbows, trying to hold back the tears.
Howard grabbed a mop from the supply closet and started to clean up the mess. “I’m so sorry, Dani. I know how much you and Jag were depending on that medicine.”
“How’s the ship?” she asked, changing the subject.
Howard grunted. “Well, it’s been better. Several systems overloaded, including cloaking, so we’re just out here as plain as day. I’m going to share some words with Patrick and let him know we need an adequate jump drive. We should have had one from the start, but
he’s nearly as stubborn as your father was, may he rest in peace.” He shoved a jar of nuts at her, and she grabbed a handful as her stomach growled.
“Captain, to the bridge!” Zadria’s frantic voice echoed throughout the halls on the ship’s PA system.
“There goes the other shoe,” Dani hollered over her shoulder at Howard as she navigated around the mess and sprinted toward the bridge.
“Not again.” Dani huffed as she ran into the bridge and quickly hopped in her captain’s chair, dumping her handful of nuts into a cubby in the arm. “How many?”
“Two, for now,” Zadria announced, pointing at the two Vaerian destroyers positioning themselves in front of Osirion.
“I assume they picked up our communication?”
“Y-yes, I’m so sorry.” Cassia looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Hey, no. That was my order and I’m glad we did it. And they were probably on their way to us anyway. Hopefully the Houston was close enough to pick it up as well. Have they reached out at all?”
“Not yet.” Cassia sighed as she slumped into her seat.
Dani bit her lip as she stared at the two massive destroyers before them. She glanced down at her console and raised an eyebrow. “They’re not powering weapons. How... unlike them.”
“Incoming transmission from one of the Vaerian ships,” Cassia announced.
“You know the drill,” Dani said as she smoothed her uniform and stood. She remained still as Cassia displayed the Vaerian officer on half the display screen and waited for the translation to begin.
Your presence is in direct violation of the current agreement between the Vaerian Nation and the Galactic Conglomerate. Under normal circumstances, your ship would be destroyed; however, our scans indicate there are several features about your ship that interest our High Commander. Therefore, you are now our prisoners. Your ship will be escorted back to the Vaerian home system, and any attempts to escape will result in your demise.
The Complete First Season - Episodes 1-5 Page 28