Chutes & Ladders (Prosperous Book 1)

by A. Rhea King

  True hoped Wrigley understood what he was trying to tell her. She had been a teacher of high school students – this was a perfect opportunity for her to use those skills and help someone learn.

  His hope went unnoticed. “She’s a Silerium!” Wrigley bellowed. “Those things cannot be trusted, and they can’t learn anything. They don’t know how. They’re animals, abominations! If you know what’s good for your ship, you will fire her immediately!”

  Tru closed his eyes, rubbing his chest now.

  “What is wrong with you?” she asked. “Why do you keep rubbing your stomach?”

  He got up and walked over to his office sequencer. “Cold white milk, whole.” The beverage materialized, and he drank most of the glass before he turned back to Amanda. “Wrigley, you and I are going to have a very long and very distrustful voyage.”

  “We’re going to have problems because I don’t think you shouldn’t keep Jackie Rhoades on this ship? Because I believe she is a security risk, she spies on people, and you obviously are too stupid to see how dangerous she is?”

  Tru returned to his desk. He drank the rest of the milk, watching her over the rim. He sat the glass down and pulled up the rest of the bunk assignments on his terminal before he spoke again.

  “No, ma’am, my stupidity,” he glanced at her for a moment, and she immediately looked away, “isn’t the problem. The problem is that you have a strong racist opinion about Sileriums and I am half Silerium,” Tru informed her. “If this open discrimination continues, I will have no choice but to request your dismissal and that you be stripped of your pension and benefits.”

  At first, Amanda was shocked by the threat. No one had ever threatened her like that before, they simply promoted her and requested her reassigned, but never dismissed. But then she realized Tru had just openly admitted to being half Silerium, which was unheard of. Laws dictated that anyone who was half Silerium or less was considered human, but most people believed that even a shred of that contaminated DNA made someone with one-sixteenth heritage were not human. He had to have known that this was a common discrimination, so why would he openly admit his lineage to her? Was it a lie? A trick maybe?

  Her contempt dripped off every letter as she asked him, “Are you a Silerium sympathizer?”

  Tru cocked his head to the side. “I am, because I’m half Silerium, and I have psychic abilities. Once in a while, I see a future, and when someone lies to me, I get indigestion and nauseous. The bigger the lie or the longer someone lies to me the worse it becomes. Right now, Wrigley, I feel like I could throw up because you are lying so much. You are lying about the affair you had with a captain, and you refuse to admit it happened. You also aren’t telling me why you dislike Ensign Rhoades so much, although I suspect there’s more to it than just this one incident. So…” He paused, letting the tension sink down on her. “Other than you are extremly racist, what else would you like to tell me about yourself, XO? Perhaps something truthful this time, if you don’t mind. I’d hate to vomit that glass of milk across this desk.”

  Amanda didn’t reply. This was no trick. He really was half Silerium. I just openly discriminated against my captain! I just put my entire career in jeopardy! Oh God, oh God, I have to get out of here!

  “May I be excused, sir?” She could barely get the words out.

  “No. We have bunk arrangements to fix, and you need to understand why you don’t put Axparh with Ga’reicht.”

  Amanda’s mind whirled, making her struggle harder to keep her mental disorder hidden from him. She had to get control of this feeling. She couldn’t let him know she was a liability. He was already angry with her for discriminating against him, calling him stupid, and lying to him; she could only imagine what he’d do if he found out about…

  Amanda wrapped her hands around the arm of the chair.

  “Why can’t I bunk Axparh with Ga’reicht?” Amanda asked.

  “Let’s start with what you know about the two races, Wrigley.”

  She drew a breath and began telling him what she knew of the two races. She quickly realized why random bunk assignments would never work with a xeno crew.

  Jackie didn’t look back as she left Tru’s chambers. She knew Amanda’s disorder made her hard to reason with, so she was glad to be out before a fight began. Jackie stopped at a lift and stepped on when it opened for her.

  Which deck, Ensign Rhoades? Gracie asked.

  “G.”

  In seconds she was on the deck and walking toward her quarters.

  Captain Barnett seemed kind, but so had many other captains. Then something went wrong, she ended up getting yelled at or thrown in the Brig and then transferred. That was the story of her life.

  Jackie was so wrapped up in her self-pity that she didn’t realize where she was going.

  She stopped short, staring at lush vines that lined the ceiling and walls around her. Small star-shaped flowers bloomed among the vines, sparkling from the condensation that had formed on their delicate petals. The vines followed the curving wall, so she kept walking until the hall ended at an alcove. The floor of the alcove was filled with stasis soil, and lush grass grew around a small fountain and bench. The vines grew around the edges of the alcove where they had been trained to climb the walls and across the ceiling.

  “Gracie,” Jackie said.

  Yes? the computer asked.

  “Am I in an off-limits area?”

  You are not.

  “Can… Can I sit here?”

  Affirmative.

  Jackie walked to the bench and sat down.

  “Gracie.”

  Yes?

  “What is this area called? What is the plant growing on the walls and ceiling?”

  The plant is a Waterigal vine. Mrs. Barnett planted it three years after Prosperous was commissioned. The area has no designation.

  “Why was it planted?”

  Jackie reached out and put her hand in the fountain. Holographic water interacted with her hand and splashed off of it.

  For Tru to have a jungle to play in.

  Jackie sat back, confused by the reply. “Who is Tru?”

  Captain Barnett.

  Jackie smiled, looking up at the plant growing over her head. “She sounds like a great mother.”

  Tru speaks highly of his mother.

  Jackie’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t realize you understood non-commands.”

  Why wouldn’t I? I am fluent in over two thousand languages.

  A half-cocked smile crept onto Jackie’s face. “Fancy that. A computer that listens in on private conversations. I suppose you tell the captain everything, too?”

  If it serves in his best interest.

  “Figures. You’d better watch what you listen to, Gracie. I know how to program UNIVAC.”

  Is that a threat?

  Jackie closed her eyes, quietly answering, “No, Gracie. It wasn’t a threat. I’m sorry I said that.”

  Apology accepted.

  Jackie sat back against the wall, relaxing into a cool, fragrant world.

  Chapter 05

  MAY 2660

  “PADA!” THE BABY TERALLIAN ON THE SCREEN CRIED AND THEN GIGGLED.

  The dreadlocks of flesh that older Terallians had were just nubs on the three-year-old’s head, and her skin was yellow with faint green stripes. She smiled, showing her sharp, tiny, yellow tinted baby teeth. Her mother, Rouchel, held the wriggling bairn close, whispering to her.

  Captain Amidien Lixu smiled, watching his spouse and daughter. Rouchel wasn’t as quiet and reserved as most Terallians believed she was. It was all an act to keep her from being arrested or executed, which could easily happen with just one infraction. The couple had met on a spaceport, and fallen in love quickly, but they knew Emperor Lixu would never let Amidien join with Rouchel if they asked for his blessing. When they joined, they used every joining law they could to make it impossible for the Emperor to order Rouchel killed.

  As a hatchling, his parents had promised him to a countess. A
midien could have taken the Countess as a second spouse, but he had the right to refuse any joining after his first one, and he used that law to nullify the arranged joining. It equally shocked the aristocrat world that he and Rouchel married after only one year of courtship, instead of waiting the expected ten years.

  The final insult to his father was the two married on Earth, without his father present, preventing Emperor Lixu from taking Rouchel into his bed the first night of their joining. By law, the sons of the Emperor could refuse to allow this, but when Lixu had been denied this right, Amidien’s brothers had often found their spouses dead a few days later, due to ‘natural’ causes.

  When they arrived back on Tetra, Amidien was immediately arrested and sent to a labor camp. A few days later Rouchel publicly announced her doctor verified her developing egg, their first bairn, was male. He had been elated by the news, but also fearful that his father would harm her or the unborn bairn because by law it was illegal for even the Emperor to keep a father from the being present for the birth of his first male bairn.

  But Emperor Lixu wasn’t about to let Amidien off for his discretions. He changed his son’s punishment to indentured servitude to the Battle Fleet for 100 years, likely hoping the harsh life would kill Amidien before his sentence was over.

  Amidien proved he was not the weakest of Lixu’s bairn as he clawed his way from the bottom ranks to captain. He now had only three weeks left in this miserable sentence, and he hadn’t felt so relieved in decades.

  “How are my two favorite Terallians?” Amidien asked.

  “PADA!” the baby cried, grabbing at the screen.

  Her parents laughed. Amidien watched Rouchel’s smile. It was like the sun appearing over a mountain top, bright and alive. It made him long to go home, send the bairn to her sire’s house, and spend the day doing anything Rouchel wished – which was usually lounging at their domicile and talking of future plans and dreams.

  “Her name seems to be the only word she understands,” Rouchel told him, hugging her daughter.

  “Soon she’ll be talking all the time, and you’ll wish she didn’t know other words.”

  Rouchel laughed, dipping her head. Amidien touched the screen over her dreadlocks. They were soft as a newborn offspring, and he loved to feel them on his chest when he held her at night.

  “I love you, Rouchel.”

  She looked up at him, seeing his hand on the screen. She pressed her hand on the screen to his.

  “I miss you, Amidien.”

  Amidien looked down at his daughter, his first daughter after eight sons. His heart broke as he watched the chubby, happy baby. Unlike his sons, in twenty-two years little Pada would not be given a choice to pursue a career, start a business, or even travel without a male. She would be expected to join with a Terallian that was three times her age and probably had five other wives. He wouldn’t love Pada or care about her wants or desires.

  “I accepted the offer to be a Merchant Raitor captain.”

  “But we’d have to move to Earth.” Rouchel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  Amidien smiled, telling her everything she needed to know. Still, he said, “I promised we’d move there before we died, remember?”

  Rouchel laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. Pada looked up at her, laughing with her. Rouchel’s hand drifted to the young Terallian’s cheek. She looked back up at Amidien.

  “Besides, I think I’ve had enough of being accused of earning my rank because I’m one of Emperor Lixu’s sons.”

  Amidien was sure that the channel was being monitored, but the comment wasn’t worthy of punishment. It was considered honorable for a son to claim that his position was of his own doing and not that of his father’s making.

  Amidien moved his hand down, one finger lying over Pada’s head. Rouchel nodded. She understood the real reason behind the decision. He wanted to live where Pada could lead a happy life, grow up strong like her mother and marry whoever she wanted. Or not marry anyone and have a career, if that’s what she chose.

  “Then it’s settled?” Amidien asked.

  Rouchel nodded. Amidien looked at the intercom when it beeped. His hand left the screen to tap the panel.

  “Yes?”

  “Admiral Riliq is requesting to speak to you, sir,” Amidien’s First Officer reported. “He is on the secure channel.”

  Amidien looked back at Rouchel and Pada. He hated to disconnect. An hour a week wasn’t enough for him, but he couldn’t ignore Admiral Riliq this close to his discharge.

  “I’ll see you when you get home, Amidien,” Rouchel told him, “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Rouchel.”

  Amidien tapped the keyboard, and the snarling face of Admiral Riliq replaced his lovely spouse.

  “Sir,” Amidien said.

  “I love you? You risk saying something so weak minded on a monitored channel? I always knew you were too weak for the Battle Fleet, Amidien. If I’d had my way, you would have been discharged years ago, in front of a firing squad! You are weak, you are pathetic, and you do not deserve the name Lixu.”

  Amidien wasn’t sure why Admiral Riliq hated him so much, although he suspected it was because Amidien had no respect for his father. Whatever the reason was, Riliq found every flaw and mistake he could with Amidien’s command style, reports, and missions. He’d even forced Amidien to use his own measly pay to return cargo that mysteriously went missing before he reached port, and would even more mysteriously reappear after he’d lost the money. He knew Riliq was somehow behind the lost cargo, so he used his dark network of shady contacts to sell off the cargo for twice what he paid, and hide the income.

  Still, Amidien had to bite his tongue from the acidic, snarling comeback that it wanted to spit at Riliq.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, sir,” Amidien snapped.

  “I’m transmitting your new mission. And you won’t be home in three weeks so you may want to inform that rahetel and cancel your plans of joining Merchant Raitor.”

  ‘My spouse isn’t a traitor,’ Amidien thought, ‘She is strong minded, something your twenty wives couldn’t fathom.’

  “No comment?” Riliq taunted.

  “No, sir. The mission, sir?”

  “You are to go to Karek. You will meet with another Terallian Raptor, a Paskian War Ship, and an Avinion Defender. Then you will all go to the Eslin system. Once you get there, cloak and await further orders.”

  “Permission to request further information, sir.”

  “Granted.”

  “Why are we giving the Paskians and Avinions cloaking technology?”

  “We aren’t. The ships have Terallian crews.”

  Though the answer confused him and left dozens of questions, he chose to instead ask, “How soon after arriving at the Eslin system should I expect further orders, sir?”

  “Not long. Will that be all?”

  ‘No!’ Amidien’s internal voice snapped. “What’s going on!? Why do alien ships have our cloaking matrixes? Why do these ships have Terallian crews? I want to know why this whole thing feels very wrong and why I can’t go home to my spouse. My last mission was supposed to be this one. This is going to keep me in service for weeks, or months!’

  Amidien nodded once, and Riliq was gone. He tapped the companel.

  “Helm, make course adjustments to Karek. Top speed.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Amidien leaned forward and began typing a letter to Rouchel. She was going to be so disappointed, but better than wondering why he never came home at all. Never came home? This wasn’t a war he was headed into; he was just escorting ships to a dead solar system.

  Amidien looked up, struck by that thought. A dead solar system?

  The Eslin system consisted of a sun and three gas planets. No race lived there or claimed it. Why were they going to the Eslin system? His instincts told him that there was something insidious about to happen, something that may get him killed.

  Amidien erased the start of
the letter and began a new one. He and Rouchel had developed a secret code, and he had to tell her to get off Tetra and to the safety of their friends on Earth. Instincts said that if she stayed, she and his bairn were in danger.

  Merchant Raitor Union Recruit Training Protocols Class, Division II

  Racism is common throughout the galaxy, but while serving with the Merchant Raitor Union, discrimination against another crewmember for their race, creed, religion, lineage, psychic abilities, creator, origin, or orientation will not be tolerated and should be reported immediately. Anonymous reports are accepted at all spaceports, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed aboard a ship.

  Chapter 06

  TARDINESS DID NOT APPEAR TO BE ONE PROBLEM HE WOULD HAVE WITH HIS CREW.

  At 0500 hours they were waiting in a line that wrapped two halls, every one of them anxious to get their bunk assignments. After four hours of answering questions and fielding complaints, Tru could have sworn more than sixty-seven crewmen were spilling into his chambers.

  An alarm went off, startling everyone. Along the baseboard and ceiling, red lights throbbed in sync with the alarm.

  A recorded voice warned, “Malfunction has been detected in aft cannons. System overload detected, and the temperature is rising to critical. Please evacuate to the nearest lifeboat.”

  “Gracie, what is that?” Tru asked.

  I am not detecting an equipment malfunction. I believe it is a systems malfunction and I am trying to locate the source, Gracie replied.

  “Shut off the alarm and reset it.”

  Yes, Captain.